German coach Hansi Flick has continued to rely on Barcelona Atlètic players during the first team's preparations, ahead of the anticipated friendly match against Switzerland's Basel next Sunday.
According to the Spanish newspaper "Mundo Deportivo", Tuesday morning's session at the Joan Gamper Sports City saw French defender Jules Koundé return after his World Cup exit, slotting back into the group as normal. Flick, meanwhile, kept faith with his policy of pulling in a raft of reserve players to cover a threadbare squad.
Hamza Abdel Karim asserts his presence
Young Egyptian forward Hamza Abdel Karim caught the eye again, training with the first team for a second day running. He had been one of only four players in Monday's session, alongside goalkeepers Iker Rodríguez and Aron Yaakobishvili and defender Álvaro Cortés.
His repeated call-up says plenty about the staff's faith in him. It hands the youngster a real chance to mix with the senior side before the season starts, with several key names still missing.
Joining Hamza on Tuesday were Xavi Espart, Ibrahima Toncara, Jordi Pesquer, Aurián Gorín, Brian Fariñas, Toni Márquez, Jofre Torrents, Guille Fernández and Toni Fernández.
Juan García, Eric García and Antony Gordon returned yesterday after training separately on Sunday. The Spanish quintet of Pedri, Pau Cubarsí, Dani Olmo, Lamine Yamal and Ferran Torres remain out of collective training. Torres's future is still up in the air after Barcelona rejected an initial 40 million euro offer from Paris Saint-Germain.
Training continues this afternoon to build physical readiness, before the squad travels to Switzerland to face Basel in a friendly on 16 August at the St. Jakob-Park stadium.