Quique Setién undoubtedly awaits the most intense two weeks of his career as a coach, where he not only decides on a ticket for Lisbon but surely his future as coach of Barcelona. In fact, both the Cantabrian coach and the rest of the staff have planned down to the smallest detail in the coming days, in order to arrive at the match against Naples on August 8 at the Camp Nou in the best possible conditions.
The team will start work starting tomorrow, July 28, after having enjoyed six days of vacation. From that day until August 8, the technicians will have twelve days to work on all aspects, both physical and tactical, in order to beat the Italian team and advance to the quarterfinals.
At AS we have had access to an internal document detailing the planning and advice that will be given to players starting on Tuesday and that must be strictly followed. These are very strict and clear guidelines that have as a priority that the player arrives at the match at an optimal moment physically and mentally, also taking into account that the threat of the coronavirus is still very present.
To begin, players will be tested for coronavirus before returning to work to rule out any positives.. This test is scheduled to take place on Monday afternoon at the Ciutat Esportiva facilities.
From here, the workouts will be shorter than usual, but will be much more intense. In principle, it is planned to reduce workloads by 10% so as not to saturate the player. Also, The latest studies open the possibility that the immune system will weaken after a continuous series of very large efforts, it is known in scientific terms as ‘the open window’, reason why this type of situations will be avoided.
High temperatures also discourage marathon sessions of work. In principle, the duration of the sessions will not exceed one hour. Also, every three training sessions, a smoother recovery will be performed.
Technicians will place special emphasis on hydration during training. Not only for fluid recovery but because Maintaining the flow of saliva helps the immune system by having antimicrobial properties.
There will also be much stricter and more rigid control in the diet. Players will have to eat, at a minimum, four times a day fish, white or blue. The contribution of fat in the diet may not exceed 25 or 35%. In addition they will have to increase the intake of vitamin C, D and zinc. For this, the nutritionist of the club has already prepared a series of post-workout shakes to bet that nutritional bonus that the metabolism will need.
Players will be recommended to sleep a minimum of seven hours a day and will also be encouraged to nap after lunch for thirty to forty-five minutes. Special emphasis will be placed on the need to sleep the necessary hours at night, remembering that sleep does not recover, that is, It's not about sleeping five hours a day and another nine to make up for it.
It is also foreseen if necessary to monitor emotional stress, although most Barcelona players live this type of psychological high-voltage situations with absolute normality.