Barcelona: Koeman orders subs to train with reserves after Clásico fiasco
The Barcelona coach gave most of his squad Sunday off, apart from eight players who will train with Barcelona B in a session booked for 11:30 hours.
Ronald Koeman had programmed a post-match training session for 11:00 hours at the Ciutat Esportiva today. However, the Barcelona coach has decided to cancel the session at the last minute and give most of his first team players the day off - a sign that he is more or less satisfied with how they performed in yesterday's Clásico, in spite of the result. Koeman feels that giving the players a rest will help them to put the Real Madrid defeat behind them and start focusing on Wednesday's Champions League clash with Juventus in Turin.
However, not everyone in the first team squad has been granted the day off. Four have been summoned to the training ground at 11:30 hours to train with the B team squad. They include: Riqui Puig, Carles Aleñá, Junior Firpo and Matheus Fernandes. Joining them will be four youth team players who occasionally train alongside the senior players: Iñaki Peña, Arnau Tenas, Konrad de la Fuente and Ramos Mingo.
Araujo to start against Juventus
It is interesting to see that central defender Ronald Araujo is not among the players that will train with the reserves this morning. The reason being is that the Uruguayan defender will start Wednesday's Champions League meeting with Juve to replace suspension-hit Gerard Piqué and Koeman doesn't want him to be overloaded in the days leading up to the game.
The list of players who have been given Sunday off by Koeman include those who featured in the starting XI against Real Madrid, plus Dembélé, Griezmann, Braithwaite and Trincao - all of whom came on as subs in the second half; Pjanic, Araujo and Sergi Roberto have also been excused from today's session. A total of 18 players - the ones who will form his squad for the next game against Juventus.