Messi, Umtiti and more internationals back for Wednesday training

The number of players at first team training sessions is growing day by day as the internationals continue to return from World Cup qualifying duty.

But there was an added bonus at the Ciutat Esportiva today as both Leo Messi and Samuel Umtiti, despite neither yet being declared fit for selection as they battle to recover from injury, were able to join the rest of the team for the workout on the Tito Vilanova field.

Spain’s Andrés Iniesta, Gerard Piqué and Sergio Busquets were back on club duty after returning from Albania, as was Denis Suárez, who helped the U21 team to victory over Estonia.

André Gomes was also back from Portugal’s trip to the Faroe Islands, and there was also a welcome home for Lucas Digne, who was on the bench for France’s impressive win in the Netherlands.

But it’s time for the players to put their international exploits behind them and join Luis Enrique in focusing on Barça’s upcoming fixture at home to Deportivo on Saturday at 4.15pm CET.

For what was the third training session of the week, the first team players were joined by six members of Barça B, namely Varo, Nili, Moisés, Marlon, Mujica and Kaptoum.

On Thursday they’ll be back at work at the same place, same time (11.00am CET).