FC Barcelona players arrived in Madrid early this Tuesday afternoon, when the plane carrying the team landed at Barajas airport just after one o'clock.
Ten days after traveling to Madrid to play in the 32nd league game of the season, FC Barcelona had
to catch a plane to go to Madrid again. Now, however, it’s the Champions League which takes
centre stage after the clásicos of the League and Cup. On Wednesday it’s the first leg of the
Champions League semi-final between Real Madrid and FC Barcelona at the Santiago Bernabeu, with the
return leg next Tuesday at the Camp Nou, when it will be decided which of the two teams will make
it to the Wembley final.
Journey
The 20 players in the squad for the game are already in Madrid. The
players set off this morning at 11.00 from the Camp Nou to El Prat Airport, where the scheduled
departure time for Madrid was at 12.00. Traffic on the runway caused a slight delay of 20 minutes,
which meant that the plane carrying the Barça squad finally landed in Barajas at 13.20.
Bartomeu heads the group
The group was led by FC Barcelona Vice President, Josep Maria Bartomeu.
Also present were the Vice President of the Institutional Area, Carles Vilarrubi and directors Toni
Freixa, Jordi Moix, Javier Bordas, and Josep Ramon Vidal-Abarca. Also travelling with the group was
the Sports Director of Professional Football, Andoni Zubizarreta, who attended the media before
flying.
President Sandro Rosell, who is already in Madrid, will also be present for the semi-final of
the Champions League, as well as other members of the Board, who are scheduled to travel on
Wednesday.
Work schedule in Madrid
On arriving Pep Guardiola's team went straight to the hotel where they’ll
remain until this evening, when the players will go to the Bernabéu stadium to train. Previously,
at 18.30 Javier Mascherano will attend a press conference. At 19.00 hours Barça will train at the
stadium, and once the session finishes, it’ll be the turn of Guardiola to face the media at a
press conference.