Barcelona have started full training for the 2026-27 season, with Hansi Flick’s squad taking to the pitch at the Ciutat Esportiva on Tuesday morning for the first session of his third campaign in charge.
According to a fresh update from fcbarcelona.com, the 9.30am CEST session follows a first day of pre-season on Monday in which 25 players underwent medical and physical testing at the club’s training complex. Ten first-team players were cleared to begin work under Flick, including Marc-André ter Stegen, Wojciech Szczęsny, Alejandro Balde, Andreas Christensen, Fermín López and Marc Bernal, while 15 more names arrived from Barça Atlètic and the club’s youth ranks, among them World Cup squad member Hamza Abdelkarim.
Christensen And Balde Lead Barcelona’s Pre-Season Return
Most of Flick’s senior first-teamers remain at the World Cup, where 16 Barça players are involved and ten have reached the semi-finals, so that group will only report back once their countries are eliminated. It leaves Flick, who has made conditioning a priority since taking charge, working with a smaller group early on, building on the fitness-first approach he has brought to Barcelona’s pre-season.
Christensen’s early involvement continues a settled summer for the Danish centre-back, who agreed a contract extension through to 2028 before this block began. He is joined at the Ciutat Esportiva by Balde and the rest of the group as Flick uses the fortnight to build fitness ahead of the club’s first fixture.
Barcelona have already mapped out the rest of the buildup: a closed-doors friendly against CE Europa on 24 July, followed by a training camp at St George’s Park in England running from 27 July to 3 August. That schedule gives Flick a settled block to shape his squad before La Liga’s opening weekend, when Barcelona host Athletic Club at Spotify Camp Nou.
