There was good news on the injury front with Alves, Puyol and Thiago all taking at least some part in the group workout. For the Brazilian it was his first group session since he picked up his leg injury. Tello, from Barça B, also trained.
Barcelona midfielder Andres Iniesta’s off-season took an interesting turn after he lent his voice to a character in the animated feature, Pirates. The 28-year-old provides the voice in the Spanish version of the film for the character Pirata Albino.
Tito Vilanova had just 10 squad members available - Xavi, Villa, Pinto, Jordi Alba, Adriano, Dos Santos, Montoya, Fontàs, Bartra and Puyol. B team players Tello, Sergi Roberto and Bañuz also joined in.
Bucharest was the venue for the last of FC Barcelona’s five preseason friendlies. The series has ended with three wins, 2-1 in Hamburg, 8-0 against Raja Club Athletic and 2-0 at Dinamo, and two draws, 2-2 in Paris and 0-0 with Manchester United.
There are still six Barça representatives in Victor Valdés, Gerard Piqué, Sergio Busquets, Andrés Iniesta, Pedro Rodríguez and Cesc Fàbregas.
Barça controlled possession and had the majority of the chances, even though United did well to snuff out a lot of Barça’s passing game and actually enjoyed the best chance when Rooney had a penalty saved by Valdes at the end of the first half.
FC Barcelona will face three ex-players on Saturday when they play PSG: defender Maxwell, midfielder Thiago Motta and striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Two of them, Maxwell and Ibra, both trained under Tito Villanova when he was Guardiola’s assistant.
David Villa was given the medical all clear this Tuesday. According to doctors Cugar and Pruna, the player, who’s still not fit enough to play, can now increase his work rate and concentrate on his physical conditioning.
This morning, Carles Puyol was given the green light to play by the Club’s Medical Services. The captain underwent surgery on the 12th of May to correct an osteochondral injury in his right knee.
The summer holidays are over for Valdés, Piqué, Cesc, Pedro, Sergio Busquets, Iniesta and Xavi. The Euro 2012 champions were at the Club this morning for their pre-season medicals, two weeks after the rest of the squad joined up.
