FCBARCELONA.CAT

13.12.2007 12:53

Back to the league

Berta Brau / Anna Segura

Just hours after their Champions League win over Stuttgart, the senior squad players were back in training on Thursday morning with their sights set on the two vital league matches coming up before the Christmas break.

Boosted by a first place finish in Group E of the Champions League, the players must now focus on the two important league matches again Valencia, on Saturday, and against Real Madrid the weekend after. As usual after a match, today’s training session focussed on recovering the tired muscles of those who played last night while the rest of the squad worked out with greater intensity.

Oleguer and Ezquerro

The entire squad, minus Oleguer and Ezquerro, were present at the La Masía training grounds. Henry, who is still recovering from injury, trained separately from the group. Meanwhile, Puyol, Milito, Sylvinho, Gudjohnsen and Thuram, who all featured in last night’s starting line-up, skipped the standard ball control exercise and dedicated themselves to jogging.

Deco, who experienced some discomfort while warming up for last night’s match and consequently dropped out of the starting line-up, trained today without problems. Touré, who has recently recovered from sinusitis, also trained without difficulties despite missing out on the Stuttgart match as a precaution.

Lighter session

As usual, the players that took part in last night’s match returned to the dressing rooms early while the remainder of the squad continued working. The work focussed on positional play and shooting followed, finally, by a training match.