After staying the night in Castellón and flying back to Barcelona this morning, Frank Rijkaard’s side was immediately sent to the training ground. None of Xavi, Milito, Deco, Sylvinho, Márquez or Valdés were involved, as they had medical treatment issues to deal with. Sylvinho has a contusion injury in his right leg, Víctor Valdés has hurt his wrist, Márquez is having trouble with his left thigh, while Deco’s problem is with his left abductor. Xavi has injured his right thigh, and Milito took a knock in the back.

Ronaldinho, Abidal and Ezquerro were also absent, all of whom have more long-term injuries to deal with.

Gentle for first eleven

The players that appeared against Villarreal were not put under too much pressure, and in fact, Thuram and Zambrotta did little more than join in with the warm-up before leaving. Henry, Giovani and Iniesta also left once the circuit training had been completed.

Bojan, Puyol, Oleguer, Gudjohnsen, Messi and Edmílson passed the ball around and then tackled the same circuit that Henry, Giovani and Iniesta had done before. José Manuel Pinto, meanwhile, worked out with goalkeeping coach Juan Carlos Unzué.