Where do the Barça players train and how can you see them? Everything you need to know about FC Barcelona training sessions — I have prepared this short guide for fans coming to Catalonia.
If you’re heading to Barcelona for a match, check out my ebook. You’ll find absolutely everything you need to know when planning your trip.
FC Barcelona training — the New Year’s session
Currently, there is only one opportunity to see FC Barcelona players in action during training — the traditional New Year’s training, held just before or after January 1st. In 2021 it didn’t take place due to the pandemic, but otherwise it happens every year. In 2025, besides the holiday training, we also got an additional training session in November for the opening of Spotify Camp Nou, and I had the chance to attend.
Every open training usually consists of the same elements:
– a short warm-up run,
– the famous rondo (a keep-away drill),
– shooting practice.
The atmosphere is like a picnic — with entertainment, music, flags being handed out, and lots of families with children. The intensity? More of a symbolic warm-up than a real training session. At the end, the players often kick some balls into the stands for lucky fans. They also frequently do a lap around the stadium, and you can take a photo with them or ask for an autograph.
Tickets
Tickets for training sessions cost just a few euros and disappear quite quickly, but these events usually don’t sell out. Each ticket has a specific seat assigned, but in reality, everyone can move freely around the stadium. Ticket revenue goes to the FC Barcelona Foundation.
An open training is one of the few opportunities to see your idols up close and for such a low price
Where do Barça players train
The November and New Year’s training sessions took place at Spotify Camp Nou, but this is an exception.
Normally, the players train at Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper, a facility near Barcelona where all Barça sections train. La Masia is located there too.
Important! The training center is not located in Barcelona but in the adjacent dormitory town of Sant Joan Despí. As I mentioned, the players don’t train at Camp Nou.
How to get to Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper?
🔸 I recommend the R1 train towards Molins de Rei or the R4 towards Sant Vicenç de Calders. You ride on a regular zone-one ticket, and you can board at stations like Arc de Triomf, Plaça Catalunya, or Sants, so practically from any part of Barcelona.
🔸 From around Camp Nou/Av. Diagonal, you can also take the T3 tram or a bus like L50/L62.
Whatever your choice, you’ll still need to walk about 10 minutes from the station.
🔸 By car, it’s about 20–30 minutes depending on where you are in Barcelona. A taxi will cost around €20–30, similar to the airport fare.
How to score a photo with a Barça player?
If you have the time, the will, and above all, patience, you can try to catch one of the players before or after training. FC Barcelona training sessions take place almost every day, usually around 11:00 AM. Players must arrive at Ciutat approximately 60–90 minutes before the scheduled time and usually start leaving about two hours after training.
You’ll always find a large crowd at the gate of the facility (near the Aldi market), but I don’t recommend waiting there. Due to the large number of people, players relatively rarely stop after training, and practically never before it when they’re in a rush.
Plus, a large crowd means that even if someone stops, it can be physically difficult to get close.
Unless you want to wrestle with teenagers, I recommend trying another secret spot at the roundabout near Ciutat.
This is where players are often stopped by traffic lights, so it’s easier to catch the desired selfie. Not all players drive this way, but importantly, they usually don’t run red lights like Dembele 😉
Trainings under Rijkaard and Guardiola
What was it like in the past? On this matter, I talked with Michał Zawada from Penya Varsovia, who attended several training sessions during the times of Rijkaard and Guardiola.
Under Rijkaard, FC Barcelona training sessions were still held at Camp Nou, on the north side near Accés 1 and the former La Masia pitch, where there is now a car park. You could watch them practically freely through the net, and only when tactical work began did security politely ask you to leave.
The training sessions were quite short and very intense, with lots of rondos and shooting drills with a moving ball. Interestingly, Rijkaard himself often took part in the games and didn’t hold back either. Michał recalls that he once brutally tackled Thiago Motta with a slide for nutmegging him in an earlier play.
Under Guardiola, smaller and larger rondos became the foundation of training. He emphasized specific situations, such as attack or defense with numerical advantages, all ending with shots. Pep also put emphasis on passing, from short to long balls of up to fifteen meters, which we also often saw in pre-match warm-ups.
Guardiola was the one who decided to close training sessions to spectators and the media, so the best team in the history of football could only be seen at open training sessions organized every few months.
Currently, as I mentioned, this is only possible once a year and there’s no sign that this rule will change anytime soon.
It cannot be denied that the distance between Barça’s stars and ordinary fans is increasing. Just 10 years ago, going to a Barça B match, you could exchange a few words with Luis Enrique or take a photo with one of the players. Nowadays, this is much more difficult.
But to end on a positive note — the challenge may be greater now, but so is the satisfaction of scoring a selfie with one of the players!
PS Everything you need to know about planning a trip to a Barcelona match, you’ll find in my ebook. See you in the city of Gaudí!
Visca barca
Barca we are the best