Josep Guardiola has picked the 18 players he has for the trip to Mestalla on Wednesday, for what will be the fourth match of Barça’s league season.
The squad
The players confirmed for the trip are as follows: Valdés, Pinto, Alves, Fàbregas, Puyol, Xavi,
Villa, Messi, Thiago, Mascherano, Keita, Sergio, Pedro, Maxwell, Afellay, Adriano, Abidal and
Fontàs.
The first team trained behind closed doors at 18.00 on Tuesday for the last time before the trip
south to face league leaders Valencia on Wednesday night. All 18 of the currently fit players will
be making the journey.
The only missing names are those of Alexis and Iniesta, who are still on recovery programmes,
and Piqué, who is now training normally with the rest of the squad, but has not been given medical
clearance yet.
Travel plan
On Wednesday, the team will assemble at the Camp Nou at 10.15, from where they will
be transferred to El Prat Airport for a flight to Valencia at 11.00. It lands at 11.55, whereupon
the squad will rest at a hotel until a coach comes to collect them for a transfer to Mestalla.
Once the game is over, the Barça players will be catching a return flight at 1.15 and will
touch down in Barcelona at 2.00 in the morning.