Xavi Hernandez managed to squeeze one final training session in before Barcelona left for the preseason tour of the United States of America on Saturday morning.
The training session, which began at 09:00 CEST, took place before their flight mid-afternoon. The big news to come out of it was that veteran defender Gerard Pique is finally working with the group again. After injuring his adductor muscle in February, Pique struggled with the problem for months until early May.
On the 5th of May it was announced he would miss the rest of the season but most assumed he would be back for the beginning of preseason. However Pique has spent most of his summer working out alone, still unable to carry out full training sessions.
Nearly ten weeks after taking time off to recover, Pique has begun exercising with the group, as per Mundo Deportivo. Ferran Torres picked up a foot injury early this week and continues to work alone, while new signing Raphinha took part in his first session.
It promises to be Pique’s most difficult season in some time. His injury issues combined with the increased competition at his position threaten to leave him without a starting role for the first time since 2009, shortly after he returned to Barcelona from Manchester United.
