SPAIN
Morata, Casillas and Aduriz warmly received in Las Rozas
Close to 500 spectators turned up to watch Spain's first training session of the week in Las Rozas. There were a few, isolated whistles for Piqué.
There was a festive atmosphere at the Ciudad del Fútbol in Las Rozas for Spain's first training session of the week. Almost 500 spectators turned up to wach the players at work as La Roja begin preparation for two pre-EURO 2016 friendlies this month - against Italy on Thursday and Romania on Sunday.
Álvaro Morata, Sergio Ramos, Iker Casillas and Aritz Aduriz were the players who received a hearty and rousing welcome from the fans in the stands; the reception was a little cooler however, for Gerard Piqué, the last player to take to the practice pitch, and who entered to a few whistles and timid applause.
Monday's session:
Del Bosque programmed a 45 minute session for the first day back - one which centred around possession and short-passing. The players worked on a reduced pitch with one half of the squad wearing whites bibs: Isco, Thiago, Aduriz, Mata, Bartra, Pedro, Azpilicueta, Sergi Roberto, Alcácer and Mario; the other group featured Juanfran, Ramos, Piqué, Nolito, Alba, Silva, Nacho, Cesc, Koke and Morata. San José, sporting a green bib, joined the group in possession of the ball.
The heavens opened in Madrid during the session, which started at 19:30 hours. Several players remained out on the pitch after the session had concluded - Morata, Cesc, Alcácer, Ramos, Thiago, Juanfran, Pedro, Isco, Bartra, De Gea and Casillas all put in a few minutes extra work while Jordi Alba stayed out to complete a few laps of the pitch.
When most of the players had gone indoors to change, Casillas stayed out to work with the goalkeeping coaches.