01.02.2011 12:31

Whole squad heading for Almeria

Marc Guillén / Anna Segura

All of the first team players, even the injured ones, will be travelling to the Juegos Mediterraneos Stadium on Wednesday for the cup semi final second leg against Almeria, hopefully to celebrate passage to the Copa del Rey final.

Pep Guardiola wants all of the players and coaching staff to be there as the team battle to confirm their place in the grand final. This is not the first time something like this has happened on occasion of a decisive domestic or European encounter. The last mass expedition of such a nature was at the end of the last league season, when Barça had the chance of securing the title should they win at Sevilla coupled with a Real Madrid defeat, which is what happened.

Session without injured players

Today, Barça held their final training session in the Ciutat Esportiva before leaving for Andalusia. Held behind closed doors, Guardiola had 17 first team players at his disposal, for the injured Puyol, Jeffren and Iniesta were elsewhere doing specific treatment work. Andrés Iniesta is the latest player to be sidelined in the FCB squad after spraining his back in Alicante. But all of Jeffren, Puyol and Iniesta will still be travelling to the Juegos Mediterraneos to support their Barça colleagues.

Nolito and Thiago

Given the absence of that trio, the squad was bolstered for today’s session by the presence of the B team’s Nolito and Thiago. These two will also be flying to Almeria on Wednesday.

Road to the final

The team will be travelling to Almeria on the day of the match. At 9.30, they will be transferred from the Camp Nou to El Prat Airport, where they will take a flight south that is due to land in the Andalusian city at 11.55. They will spend the rest of the day in a hotel, and approximately one hour before kick off will start making their way to the stadium. The game kicks off at 8.00 pm.