12.09.2010 11:58

Barça return to training

Marc Guillén / Jordi Clos

FC Barcelona's players returned to training on Sunday morning as the focus turned from the Hércules reverse to the opening Champions League game against Pananthinaikos in midweek.

Pep Guardiola assured after the first defeat of the season that squad would lift themselves back up and that process began on Sunday morning at the Ciutat Esportiva as the attention turned to Europe. The coaching staff organised a physical session to keep the players feeling fresh.

Two groups

At 1100 the 18 players available took to the pitch and split into two groups. The stars that played for more than 45 minutes against Hércules did some recovery work with Gerard Piqué and Maxwell among them, despite the former requiring six stitches and the latter suffering a wrist injury in the game.

The rest of the squad began with the usual warm-up exercises which were followed by physical circuits. Jonathan dos Santos, Planas, Abraham, Masip and Víctor Vázquez, none of whom played against Cartagena, joined them from the B team ranks to make up the numbers when a five-a-side game was organised. Jeffren continued working on his own recovery programme.

Training was carried out using the Champions League ball as the players look to become accustomed to it before they take on Panathinaikos on Tuesday in Camp Nou.