Coach Pep Guardiola is keen to get the Spanish contingent of his team, a sizeable and significant chunk of FC Barcelona, back in top shape as quickly as possible. The eight players — Pique, Puyol, Villa, Pedro, Iniesta, Xavi, Busquets and Valdes – along with Uruguayan defender Caceres participated in a session devoted to those World Cup players who were last to arrive from their summer break. The nine players will be back at Ciutat Esportiva in the evening to train with the rest of the squad.

The club’s official site reported that the weather was ideal as the players reported at nine in the morning. For the circuit training, Pique was paired up with Puyol, Pedro with Villa, Xavi with Iniesta and Busquets with Caceres, while Valdes had his first session under Barca’s new keepers’ coach, Carles Busquets, father of Sergio Busquets.