The last international break saw almost all the FC Barcelona first-team players leave the club to join their national sides. However, the international break is now over, as all the teams who had Barcelona players as their part have played their matches in this international break.
As a result, all the internationals have returned to Barcelona and should be available to train for Xavi. However, the Barcelona head coach was still not able to count on all of his players in the last training session.
Gundogan and Araujo did not train with the group
According to Mundo Deportivo, Ilkay Gundogan and Ronald Araujo did not train on the pitch at the Cuitat Esportiva Joan Gamper and worked only in the gym. These two players were among the latest to rejoin the Barcelona squad, as they played their last international matches only a day ago.
However, Marc Andre Ter Stegen, who also represents Germany along with Ilkay Gundogan, did train with the rest of the team to prepare for the match against Athletic Club on Sunday.
With the return of these internationals, Xavi has all the fit players once again at his disposal. Alejandro Balde and Lamine Yamal, who were reported to have suffered discomforts recently, also participated in the last training session and are positive about playing against Athletic Club.
Six players still unavailable for Xavi
Five youngsters were also called up by Xavi for this training session, including Ander Asterlaga, Marc Guiu, Unai Hernandez, Hector Font, and Mbacke. It remains to be seen which of these are selected by Xavi to get on the squad sheet.
Six players are still unavailable for Xavi, mainly due to injuries. These include Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha, Frenkie de Jong, Jules Koundé, Pedri González, and Sergi Roberto, who are all working on their recoveries for now.
