Athletic resumes training after five days of rest

Athletic are back in action at Lezama today (10.00 CET, closed doors) after five days off, according to Mundo Deportivo. The Lions enjoyed a short break following Saturday's friendly in Burgos, taking advantage of the postponement of their first La Liga match against Barcelona, which was originally scheduled for this weekend.

It's been an unusual pre-season for Terzic's side, stretched longer than normal due to the extended World Cup. They'll train again tomorrow (15:00) before heading to Marseille, where they'll face Olympique at the Vélodrome on Sunday (17:30), their final warm-up before the real action begins.

The Bilbao outfit will complete their pre-season preparations on Friday the 14th in Bergamo against Atalanta in the Bortolotti Trophy. After that come the three opening La Liga fixtures in nine days: Sevilla at home (22nd), Barcelona at the Camp Nou (27th) and Celta at Balaídos (30th).

Today will be key to monitoring the return of injured players: Vivian has yet to feature due to an adductor problem, Prados missed Burgos after a knee scare and Gere came off early in El Plantío. Meanwhile, Unai Simón, Laporte and Nico Williams are on the verge of rejoining after their World Cup break.