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FC Barcelona trained on the beach next to their hotel on Thursday as they looked ahead to the final of the FIFA Club World Cup with only Lionel Messi, Gerard Piqué and Seydou Keita not present.

Coach Pep Guardiola put the players started the game against Atlante the evening before through a gentle warm-down routine.

Starting side

Iniesta was the only player who started the match in midweek unable to train as he picked up a knock, Messi and Piqué, both of whom came off the bench, as well as Keita did not participate. Bojan Krkic joined the rest of the squad in the Army Stadium to train.

Grass and sand

There was a stark contrast in one of the images of the day as the players trained on a small pitch next to the beach and the green grass stood out next to the huge swathe of white sand beyond.

Good atmosphere

There was a good atmosphere among the 13 players as the focus remained on winning the club’s sixth major trophy of the calendar year. The only downside is the news that Iniesta’s injury looks set to rule him out of the final.Fun and games

When training due to a close not all the players were keen to leave and Messi and Dani Alves stayed behind to play some volleyball with their feet which then saw them joined by Pedro and Sergio Busquets.

Messi then started a game of penalties with Piqué as one stood on the sand and the other was in the pool. The sharp-shooting showed that the Argentinian’s injury is almost gone.

Images: Miguel Ruiz (FCB)

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Milutinovic looks on

Barça welcomed the Serbian coach Bora Milutinovic at training. Radomir Antic’s assistant with the national team watched the session and then spoke to some of the players, including Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

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Barça’s last game of the year at the Camp Nou is at home to Espanyol (20.00, Gol TV, Canal + Liga and R@dio Barça). A win would ensure they end 2009 top of the league.

The Camp Nou bids farewell to a historic 2009 with one of the biggest games of the year: the local derby. Barça have a memorable twelve months behind them in which they have played wonderful football and collected title after title, rounded off recently against Inter Milan, Madrid and Dynamo Kiev. The Clubs World Cup has yet to come, yet another great challenge for Barça. But before they fly off to Abu Dhabi, the team has another matter to deal with. A win against Espanyol will ensure that Barça will be able to celebrate the festive season as league leaders.

Recent slip-ups

Looking at the history between these two sides, Barça have little to fear against the ‘parakeets’. In 75 visits to FCB territory, the blue and whites have lost 57 times and have only managed to come away with any points at all on 18 occasions (9 wins and 9 draws). But in more recent encounters, Espanyol have come out of this fixture very well indeed. They have avoided defeat in four of their last fives visits, and of course last year, picked up a shock 2-1 win.

Different conditions

Like that day, both teams are coming into this game in starkly contrasting situations. Barça are looking as solid as ever, and have just won five games on the trot. This has seen them into the next round of both the Copa del Rey and the Champions League, and they are back on top of the league table. For the other team in the city, though, these are difficult times. Unable to score with regularity, they are already out of the Cup and following four straight defeats are suddenly dicing with the relegation zone. Such a gap between the sides would suggest this is an obvious home win, but as we have seen so many times in the past, when it comes to the derby, the form book often goes right out the window. It may sound like a cliché, but in recent years this has certainly held true.

Important absences

Both sides are missing key players. For Barça, Leo Messi is out after spraining his ankle in Kiev. The Argentinian is also in doubt for the Clubs World Cup. However, he’ll be there before the match to share his Balon d’Or with the fans. Espanyol, meanwhile, are coming without either De la Peña or Tamudo, curiously enough the only two players in the side that have scored league goals at the Camp Nou since 2001.