FC Barcelona returned to training on Friday after their trip to Paris, with Hansi Flick able to work with most of his first-team squad ahead of Sunday’s El Clasico against Real Madrid.
As already confirmed, Jules Kounde remained absent from the session as he continues to recover from his ankle injury.
As things stand, the French international appears set to miss the Clasico alongside Eric Garcia, Dani Olmo, Andreas Christensen and Roony Bardghji.
Four youth prospects called up to training
Meanwhile, four Barcelona youth prospects joined the first-team training session as the squad continued preparations for the meeting at Spotify Camp Nou.
Indeed, according to SPORT, Hamza Abdelkarim was involved in Friday’s session alongside academy players Alex Campos, Orian Goren and Ebrima Tunkara.
Ebrima Tunkara trains with the first team. (Picture credit: Instagram/@ebrimatunkara10)
Hamza has been a regular presence in the first-team dynamics this season, but given his lack of minutes, he played for Barça Atletic last weekend, before returning for the Champions League clash against PSG.
As for Campos, the young defender was called up to the senior setup for the first time for the PSG trip and has continued working under Hansi Flick given the absences in the backline.
The injury to Olmo has led to the German tactician also taking a look at both Ebrima Tunkara and Goren as potential options to plug in the gap for the next few matches.
Concerns for Flick
The main concern for Flick remains the number of players missing through injury. Kounde is still working hard to make it back for Sunday’s match, while Garcia, Olmo, Christensen and Bardghji are all ruled out.
Headaches for Flick ahead of Real Madrid clash. (Photo by Fran Santiago/Getty Images)
Gerard Martin has only recently recovered from discomfort, while Rodri did not start against PSG as he was not at 100% fitness. Frenkie de Jong has yet to play any minutes having returned from injury last week.
The situation, therefore, is not exactly ideal heading into the blockbuster clash against Real Madrid.
But Barça already boast a six-point lead over their rivals in La Liga and have won all of their matches in the competition so far. They have dominated the Clasico duels in recent times as well, giving them plenty of reasons to remain confident heading into the match.