Chelsea train at Real Mallorca’s Ciutat Esportiva

Chelsea began their warm-weather training schedule in Mallorca on Tuesday morning, with the first session of the trip taking place at Real Mallorca’s training facility in Son Bibiloni, on the road to Soller. Shaded by a stand on one side of the pitch, usually used for Real Mallorca B matches, the players were overlooked from all other angles by the mountains on the picturesque island.

They had limbered up for the session with a stretching routine after a loosening walk along the beach yesterday afternoon and were visibly in high spirits for the change of routine.

Training, however, was as intense as ever today, with stretches and various drills followed by a reduced-size competitive game, using mini goals on the halfway line and a full-sized goal at the other end. The focus of the game was largely on possession, pressing and passing combinations, although there were some impressive goals, appreciated from the watching Real Mallorca B squad who were lined up behind the goal to catch a glimpse of the Blues in action.

Meanwhile, the Real Mallorca first team trained on their own pitch, located behind the one being used by Chelsea. The Spanish side were preparing for their Copa del Rey second leg fixture against Athletic Bilbao played last night and among their number was former Blues youth and reserve player Sergio Tejera.

The creative midfielder, who reached the FA Youth Cup Final with Chelsea in 2008, signed for the Balearic side in 2009 and has made nine appearances in La Liga this season. He caught up with chelseafc.com after chatting to some old friends in the Chelsea squad, although it took a second for him to recall his English skills.

‘I’m really happy to see all the team again,’ he smiled. ‘I always watch and hope everything goes well for them.

‘I saw Ryan Bertrand and Sam Hutchinson training before and it’s nice to see old friends that I left in England when I came back to Spain. I was talking with [fitness coach] Chris Jones after they finished and I was so happy to see him – and everyone.

‘It’s a very good pitch they are training on – it’s where the second team from Mallorca usually play their games.’

Today is Chelsea’s last training session at the facility before flying back to England ahead of their FA Cup fourth round tie at QPR this weekend.

from chelseafc.com