Xavi Hernandez’s Barcelona earned a hard-fought 2-0 win over Cadiz on Sunday night at Estadio Olimpic Lluis Companys. It was the team’s first win of the season, and the manager decided to reward his players with two days off.
According to reports from SPORT, the day off from training did not stop several players from returning to the club facilities on Monday.
Ronald Araujo, Inigo Martinez, Pedri, Jules Kounde, and Marc Casado were all spotted at training today as they preferred to keep working towards improvement.
An unexpected presence
The surprising name on the aforementioned list is Araujo who missed yesterday’s game through injury.
The Uruguayan international is said to be ruled out for at least a month after injuring his thigh in training last week.
Yet, that did not stop him from returning and continuing his recovery. In any case, Araujo’s very presence in the club facilities comes as great news to the manager and bodes a favourable prognosis for his recuperation.
What is next for Barcelona
After a hard-fought affair last night, the Catalans travel to El Madrigal next weekend where they will face Quique Setien’s Villarreal.
The Yellow Submarines have endured a mixed start to the new season thus far. They lost their opening game to Real Betis by a narrow 2-1 scoreline but came back strong in the following fixture against Mallorca.
Faced against Barcelona, they will look to gun for their biggest win yet of the campaign.
Of the players present in training today, Pedri and Kounde are expected to start against Villarreal.
Martinez and Araujo will continue on the sidelines through injury while Casado is expected to start on the bench.
