Messi, Mascherano, Alves and Neymar return to training

The South American foursome complete morning physicals followed by an afternoon workout

Lionel Messi,  Javier Mascherano, Dani Alves and Neymar Jr completed their first day of the 2015/16 preseason this afternoon at the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper. The four players trained under the orders of assistant coaches Rafel Pol and Edu Pons.

All four players played in the Copa América immediately following Barça’s completion of last season’s historic Treble and were therefore left off the squad for the American Tour in order to get some much needed rest.

Only the two Brazilian players Alves and Neymar were scheduled to rejoin the team on Thursday, but the Argentinians Messi and Mascherano decided to come back before the 3 August return date they had originally planned on.

After their morning medicals, when they were also joined by goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen, the South American foursome officially commenced preparations for the 2015/16 season.

They’ll train with the rest of the squad for the first time on Friday, when the full team is scheduled for a double session at 9.30am and 6.30pm CET. The 24 players who made the US trip had the day off on Thursday.