Athletic Bilbao midfielder Garcia trains normally

Athletic Bilbao's midfielder Raul Garcia on Thursday trained normally in a session as he seemed to have fully recovered from a minor muscle injury sustained recently.

The 32-year-old Garcia was struggling over his fitness in the the past few weeks but he trained with the group in a session that saw coach Eduardo Berizzo putting emphasis on the attacking side, reports Efe.

Central defender Iñigo Martinez is the only Bilbao player who remains sidelined with a muscle injury but is expected to rejoin team practices next week.

Athletic Bilbao are scheduled to train on Friday morning behind closed doors prior to the upcoming pre-season friendlies.

Bilbao are scheduled to take on fellow Spanish La Liga side Real Sociedad on Saturday at Stadium Gal in Irun.

Then the Basque team is to participate on Sunday in the Opel Cup, a friendly mini-tournament that consists of three 45-minute matches to be held in Mainz.

Athletic Bilbao are scheduled to play Italy's Fiorentina and Germany's FSV Mainz 05.

--IANS

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