The first team returned to work this Thursday afternoon after almost a week off in which the players were able to enjoy the holiday break with their families. At today’s training session, Pep Guardiola had 15 players from his squad to work with, along with four players from Barça B –Cuenca, Muniesa, Sergi Roberto, and Montoya.

The only unexpected absence from the session was Maxwell, who is back in Barcelona, but who didn’t train with the permission of the club owing to a personal matter. The Barça player’s house had been burgled.

Barça has begun to train again focused on the first match of 2012, on January 4 at the Camp Nou against Osasuna (22:00), in the first leg of the next round of the Copa del Rey. Alexis Sánchez trained on the margins of the pitch away from the group, while Iniesta, injured in the Cup match against L’Hospitalet, worked in the gym.

Leo Messi  and Dani Alves will rejoin the team in the next few days. Alves is set to return on December 31, and Messi will be back on January 2.

Today’s session was attended by the coaches of the FCB Escola who have taken part these last few days in the Christmas Camp. Also present at the Ciutat Esportiva was David Trueba, a friend of Pep Guardiola.

Barça will train twice on Friday at the Ciutat Esportiva. The first session will start at 10:30 in the morning, and the second session will be in the afternoon, at 17:30. Both will be behind closed doors.

Saturday will be the squad’s final training session of the year. It will start at 10 in the morning, and the first 15 minutes will be open to the media. Once the training is finished, Thiago will appear at a press conference.

Source: fcbarcelona.cat; Images: Miguel Ruiz (FCB)