The FC Barcelona expedition with 32 players called up landed last morning after a 14-hour flight in the chaotic and immense Los Angeles. The team and the board will reside for nine days in Downtown, the financial district of what is the most populous city in California and the second with the most inhabitants in the United States after New York. It has, according to the 2022 census, a population of 3,983,540 inhabitants.
It is in the city of stars where Barcelona has begun an intense tour that will take them to the West Coast of the United States with homework and pending accounts to resolve for players, coaches and managers. The tour implies an income of 12 million euros in the blaugrana coffers. After taking a mass bath upon arriving with a hundred fans waiting at the Intercontinental Hotel in Downtown, the team rested and got ready to face the first day of training.
With the presence of Oriol Romeu, who will be presented this Friday, the team trained for the first time on American soil at 30 degrees at the legendary LA Memorial Coliseum Olympic stadium. The cauldron that was built for the 1932 Olympic Games is still on top of the great arches at the entrance to the Coliseum, popularly known as The Grand Old Lady.
The stadium, site of the 1932 and 1984 Olympic Games, will be so again in 2028. It is the only one of its kind. And appropriately, boast about it. Every corner of the stadium preserves the Olympic essence mixed with all the comforts and new technologies.
The Barcelona session began with the team doing various warm-up exercises and the classic rondos and Xavi Hernández clapping on the band. A total of 28 players held their first session. Meanwhile, in a white tent located on the right side of the coliseum, a gym was also installed. Alejandro Balde exercised there, already recovered from his ankle injury but with stomach discomfort just like Koundé. He also trained at the Iñigo Martínez gym, recovering from his plantar fasciitis. For his part, left-back Julián Araújo arrived in the afternoon after winning the Gold Cup with Mexico.
The session was also attended by President Laporta, Vice President Rafa Yuste, manager Joan Soler and director of football Mateu Alemany as well as advisor Enric Masip. After the session, Araújo assessed the good feelings of the squad and, faced with the possibility of being third captain after the departure of Busquets and Alba, he assured that “it is a source of pride to be given that possibility. The colleagues will choose it. But I consider myself a leader even if I don't have a bracelet, ”he declared.
The Uruguayan, who pointed out "not being worried" about signing up for his new contract for the 23-24 season because there is still no economic fair play, focused on planning for the next season. "We have a great team and we will fight to win the Champions League because that is the great objective." And the Real Madrid? "It's a great team, they always showed it and they're going to fight but we have to focus on ourselves and compete."
