FCBARCELONA.CAT

15.04.2008 13:13

Back to work

Berta Brau/Anna Segura

After a two-day holiday, the first team went back to training on Tuesday morning at La Masia as they prepare for two huge games at the Camp Nou, against Espanyol and Manchester Utd.

Starting with Saturday’s game with Espanyol, Barça have seven games to come in just three weeks. Frank Rijkaard’s side trained today in the knowledge that there are some crunch fixtures ahead of them both in La Liga and in the Champions League.

No sooner will the Espanyol match be over than Barça will be getting ready to take on Manchester United on Wednesday April 23. There is more league action to come the weekend after with Deportivo v Barça. On the 29th April comes the return leg of the European semi final at Old Trafford, before Barça come back home to entertain Valencia and on the weekend of May 4 they are off to the Bernabéu and Real Madrid, to be played midweek, and then on May 10 or 11, it’s time for Barça v Mallorca.

Deco with the squad

The good news was the return of Deco to training. The midfielder is recovering well from his leg injury and looked comfortable in today’s workout.

But missing from the Masia turf were Henry and Iniesta who did some running in the Camp Nou as they recover from their own injury concerns. The injured Ronaldinho, Oleguer and Jorquera were also away.

18 players at La Masia

Frank Rijkaard had 18 players to work with today. Zambrotta arrived late because of problems with his flight, while Thuram stayed in the gym after his plane had come in late as well.

Before training began, the whole squad congratulated Gaby Milito on the birth of his daughter Luca on Sunday.

Under pressure

After warming up and passing the ball around, the players divided into three groups to work on pressure situations. Abidal, Gudjohnsen, Touré, Puyol, Zambrotta, Sylvinho and Milito wore orange, Eusebio, Deco and Márquez wore yellow, while strikers Eto'o, Giovani, Ezquerro, Xavi, Bojan, Edmílson and Messi went without bibs.