Cup preparations begin

Everything went to plan against Girona. The 4-1 win was sweet, and had done wonders for Barça's league title bid, but it won't help at all with the Copa del Rey, to which attention now turns. Following all the drama of the 4-4 draw in the first leg, Barça now face Atlético Madrid in the away leg, at a ground where they already won recently in the league.

With the sun shining down from above, the team were at the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper this Monday morning to begin preparations for the cup game, and also to recover from the previous day's exertions.

Ter Stegen joins part of session

And there was an additional reason to smile today, because goalkeeper Ter Stegen was able to take part in some of the group exercises as he continues on the long road to recovery from an injury that has meant he has been out of action for half a year.