FCBARCELONA.CAT

18.02.2008 14:15

Eto'o and Sylvinho, back for Scotland

www.fcbarcelona.cat

Eto'o and Sylvinho are the two new faces in the list of 18 players released by Frank Rijkaard for Wednesday’s match with Glasgow Celtic.

Eto’o and Sylvinho have been included in Barça’s squad for the first leg of their Champions League last 16 tie with Celtic on Wednesday. The two will travel with their team-mates to Scotland on Tuesday. Rijkaard announced the list of players after a training session behind closed doors today, Monday, at the Miniestadi. The coach has decided to leave out Edmílson, Bojan and Zambrotta.

An eagerly awaited return

Samuel Eto'o is back after having missed eight games, five in the League and three in the Spanish Cup. This is mostly because he has been away playing at the African Cup of Nations, though the Cameroon striker didn’t travel to Zaragoza for Barça’s match last Saturday due to a thigh strain he had picked up in the tournament. After three days of a personalised training programme, Eto’o now appears to be fit and raring to go.

If he does play in Glasgow, it will be Samuel Eto'o’s second match in this term’s Champions League. So far he has only taken part in the last game in the group stage against Stuttgart in the Camp Nou on 12 December. Before that match kicked off Barça had already mathematically qualified for the knock-out stages.

Sylvinho also returns after being given the green light by club doctors on Sunday. He had been sidelined with a sore right leg and so didn’t travel to either Seville or Zaragoza. The last time he turned out was in the away game at Athlétic de Bilbao.

Last session before leaving for Glasgow

The first team squad had its last training session this Monday morning before heading to Scotland tomorrow, Tuesday, for their Champions League last 16 clash with Celtic on Wednesday.

Although Rijkaard normally works behind closed doors on the day before a match, this time he opted to do it the day before travelling to Glasgow. He also chose to use the Miniestadi, which is unusual as the Camp Nou is normally used for closed-door training sessions. Barça are planning to have another session tomorrow, Tuesday, in Scotland at 7 pm.