Barcelona announce to continue training ahead of UCL tie with Napoli

Barcelona have announced that the first team will continue training as they prepare for the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie with Napoli which, at present, is still going ahead, despite the coronavirus outbreak having had a big impact on sport already.

The Catalan club are waiting for UEFA to announce the temporary suspension of the Champions League, but until then, they will continue to train as normal, starting on Friday at 11:00 CET.

Barcelona's idea is to have the weekend off after LaLiga announced that league matches in Spain's top two divisions will not take place for the next two matchdays, so they would return to work on Monday after Friday's session.

If UEFA suspends the Champions League, though, the plan with regard to training could change.

There is a meeting set for Tuesday that will have an impact on the future of the competition this season, as well as that of the Europa League and the summer's European Championship, so Barcelona will have to wait for the resolution of this before making any new plans.

Barcelona have also taken steps to prevent the spread of the coronavirus amongst their employees by promoting teleworking and limiting on-site services, as well as making employees' hours more flexible to avoid crowding.