Confidential SPORT: Shortest ever Christmas break for Barça's players
The squad will only have six days off with their families
The South Americans may be granted a little extra time
Barcelona's players will have their shortest ever Christmas break this year. The reason? Because they play against Real Madrid on Dec. 23 in La Liga and begin the New Year on Jan. 4 against Celta Vigo in the Copa del Rey.
With such a short gap, compared to usual, Ernesto Valverde has decided to give the squad from Dec. 24 until Dec. 29 off. That's just six days to enjoy Christmas with their families.
It remains to be seen if the South American players will be given a bit longer due to their need to take long flights. They could be given a longer break.
Remember that the Clasico is played at 13.00h in Madrid on Dec. 23, so the South American player -- Leo Messi, Javier Mascherano, Luis Suarez and Paulinho -- may fly directly from the capital and not return to Barcelona.
The squad will return to training on Dec. 30 after six days off. Valverde will have four sessions to prepare for the Celta game, an opponent who took a point off Barça at Camp Nou last weekend.
If the game had been against a lesser opponent, it's possible that some of the players would have been given more time off. But the game against Celta has little margin for error and Valverde wants to be ready for it.
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