Barcelona’s England camp nears its end as Tommy Marques manages minor discomfort

Barcelona have completed their penultimate training session at St George’s Park as preparations for the new season continue, with Tommy Marques sitting out the afternoon work after reporting minor discomfort.

The Catalan club held two sessions on Sunday at the Sir Bobby Charlton pitch within the English Football Association’s national football centre. Their final training session at the venue is scheduled for Monday, after which the squad will return home slightly earlier than planned.

That change to the itinerary follows the cancellation of Barcelona’s friendly against Preston North End.

According to Mundo Deportivo, Monday’s session will bring the club’s stay at the St George’s Park facilities to an end. The original schedule had included the match against Preston, but its cancellation means Barcelona will leave England before the date initially intended.

Head coach Hansi Flick involved all available first-team players in Sunday’s two sessions. The German coach has used the training camp to continue preparations with the members of his senior squad who are currently fit and available.

New signing Jesse Bisiou also continued his integration into the group. After training with his new team-mates for the first time on Saturday, he took part in the opening section of the afternoon session alongside the rest of the players.

Alejandro Balde was also involved with the group during that first part of the evening training session.

As has been the case throughout Barcelona’s stay in England, a number of players from the club’s first-team and reserve squads who travelled to St George’s Park also took part in the sessions. The group included Aaron Yaakobishvili, Iker Rodriguez, Hamza Abdelkarim, Ibrahima Tonkara, Alvaro Cortes, Alex Gonzalez, Jordi Pesquer, Brian Farinas, Jofre Torrents, Xavi Espart, Ibrahim Diarra, Toni Fernandez, Shane Kluivert, Oscar Gestau, Orian Jorin and Gil Fernandez.

Marques trained during the morning session despite feeling a slight discomfort, but was rested for the afternoon work as a precaution. The report does not indicate that the issue is serious, although his participation was managed across the two sessions.

Frenkie de Jong remains on a separate recovery programme as he continues treatment for a serious knee injury. The Netherlands midfielder did not join the main group and is instead continuing his rehabilitation.

Barcelona’s final session in England will therefore take place without the planned Preston fixture providing the closing test of the camp. The team will complete its work at St George’s Park on Monday before beginning the journey back to Spain.