Barcelona returned to training this morning after balugrana coach Ronald Koeman gave his players four days off for the Christmas holidays.
But the morning session at Sant Joan Despí Sports City had an important absence: Leo Messi.
As reported by the Spanish newspaper 'Marca', the captain of Barça, who moved to Argentina to spend the holidays, has still got a few days off and will not rejoin his team until after the match against Eibar, which Barcelona will play on Tuesday 29 at Camp Nou.
After the meeting with the Basques, Koeman will give his players two more days of rest. Barça will not work on Wednesday and Thursday and will return to training at Joan Gamper Sports City on Friday 1 January at 5pm. In that session, Messi will already be there. The Catalans start 2021 by moving to Huesca where they will play at the El Alcoraz stadium on the third day of the year.
Koeman is dosing the Argentine international this season and has given him some rest in some Champions League games, such as those played against Dinamo Kiev and Ferencváros. The Dutch coach does not want to risk injuries with his captain.