Barcelona return to training on Sunday
Ernesto Valverde will start getting ready for the Catalan derby
Barcelona return to work on Sunday to prepare for the derby clash with Espanyol on Sat Jan 4 (9pm) at Cornella El Prat. Valverde will have all his squad available, with the exception of Leo Messi, Luis Suarez, Neto and Arturo Vidal, who have extra time off to spend Christmas at home in South America.
Those players will arrive back on Jan 2. There will be five training sessions before the restart. The first is on Sunday at 6pm. Monday will see a double session - 11am, 6pm - on Tuesday, at 10 am, and Thursday, when the squad is all back together, at 5pm.
On Friday the final session will be 6pm, after Ernesto Valverde's press conference. Valverde will not have Carles Alena at his disposal, with the midfielder heading to Real Betis.
After the derby Barcelona will train with open doors on Sunday 5 from 11am, as is traditional around New Years.
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