Manolo Reina has given fans an update on the team’s preparations for a potential return to competitive football.

Having transitioned to phase three of full training after two weeks back at Ciudad Deportiva Antonio Asensio, the goalkeeper says he and his team-mates are progressing well towards an eventual resumption of La Liga fixtures. 

“We miss it but right now this is the situation that we’re dealing with,” he said. “We’ve overcome the most difficult phase which was working individually. The goal is to get ourselves in the best shape possible, go step by step and hope that the league can resume soon.

“The months spent training at home have been difficult. We’ve had to work more on the physical side of things, which is something that we usually don’t need as much. Fortunately, when we returned to the pitch, we were already allowed to train with the goalkeeper coach, Fernando Maestro, and now we can train in groups.”

Our first game back after the enforced break could see the side host FC Barcelona at Son Moix, and Reina says he and his team-mates have used their spare time during lockdown to brush up on their opposition knowledge.

“The time spent home, we’ve used to watch videos of Barcelona and see how we can make things difficult for them,” he said. “With these sorts of teams, it depends on what their layers are thinking. We’re clear that we’re going to have do many things right to get something positive. We will try to surprise them like we did against Real Madrid.”