Barcelona's 2018-19 preseason brought forward by a week
The club have announced training will now kick off on July 11
Barcelona have decided to start preseason ahead of the 2018-19 campaign earlier than planned. After initially stating training would re-start on July 16, the club have now said they will have players back in on July 11.
Coach Ernesto Valverde has decided to bring the date forward, which means the first group of players will be back in while the World Cup is still ongoing. The club haven't said why they've made the change.
According to a statement from the club, the players that aren't involved at the World Cup will be in on July 11 for a series of medical tests ahead of the new season.
Those who are taking part in Russia this summer will then join up with the first team at a later date, depending on how far they go at the finals.
THE TOUR
The tour of the United States will go ahead as planned. On July 24 Barça will travel to Beaverton (Oregon) for three days at Nike's HQ.
They will be in the U.S until August 4, with games planned against Tottenham (Los Angeles), AS Roma (Dallas) and AC Molan (Santa Clara) before returning to Spain.
