Barcelona defensive prodigy rejoins group training after lengthy injury layoff | OneFootball

After having a day off on Monday, FC Barcelona players returned to the Ciutat Esportiva complex today to continue their pre-season training under new manager Hansi Flick.

The first training session of the second week of the Flick era took place at Camp Tito Vilanova today at 9.30 am.

Alejandro Balde returns

Hansi Flick had the same players at his disposal as last week for training along with a new addition in the form of Alejandro Balde.

Indeed, according to Mundo Deportivo, the left-back returned to group training sessions today with the rest of the squad after having spent months on the sidelines due to injury.

The 20-year-old left-back has been out of action since January this year when he suffered a thigh injury and underwent surgery.

Balde’s rehabilitation has been going very well with the left-back working his way back to individual training sessions over the past few weeks.

Balde back in group training. (Photo by Angel Martinez/Getty Images)

Having seemingly recovered fully now, the young Spaniard rejoined the rest of the squad in today’s sessions, although he only did a part of the group training.

Either way, Balde’s return to fitness ahead of the pre-season matches is great news for Barcelona as it gives him a chance to be fully ready in time for the start of the new campaign in a month.

Who else trained under Flick?

Apart from Balde, first-team players like Inaki Pena, Inigo Martinez, Oriol Romeu, Vitor Roque, Clement Lenglet, Julian Araujo, and Ansu Fati have been working under Hansi Flick in pre-season thus far.

Meanwhile, as many as 12 players from the reserve and youth ranks have been training under the German.

Mika Faye, Hector Fort, Ander Astralaga, Gerard Martin, Marc Bernal, Unai Hernandez, Angel Alarcon, Noah Darvich, Trilli, Sergi Dominguez, Quim Junyent, and Alexis Olmedo are those 12 players.