Imagine a Beatrix Potter illustration, replace the rabbits in aprons with a herd of dairy cows, and you’ve got the background to Barcelona’s training camp at St George’s Park.The Spanish club spent the past week at the facilities, where all of England’s national teams are based. The location, near Burton upon Trent in rural Staffordshire, and the atmosphere, surrounded by golden fields, cosy homes and nocturnal silence, was a marked difference from their pre-season tour of South Korea and Japan last year.Speaking with locals, nobody seemed to even know that Barca were there (they stayed for eight days, arriving on July 27 and returning to Catalonia on Monday). That was exactly what Hansi Flick wanted.With no fans lurking by the gates, and practically no distractions, for the German manager it was the ideal place to prepare for the new campaign, with his defending champions set to restart in La Liga on August 23.“I’d say it’s one of the best training camps I’ve ever been on,” the 61-year-old said at a press conference on Monday. “Conditions have been fantastic. Everything was very close by: the pitches, the facilities, and the grass was incredible.”It wasn’t all plain sailing though. In their time away, Barca could only play one friendly match — a penalty shootout defeat by Birmingham City after a 2-2 draw over 90 minutes on Friday. A second game against Preston had to be cancelled after the Championship side pulled out at the last minute.Here, The Athletic sums up Barca’s time away — and looks ahead to what comes next.Why did Barca choose St George’s Park?For the past four summers, Barcelona have opted for lucrative and busy summer trips to Asia or the United States. But after last year’s pre-season tour, Flick made it clear to the club that he would prefer to avoid long flights and harsh summer conditions.There were also options for Barca in Germany’s Black Forest region (near where Flick was born) and Scotland, but in the end they chose to make a third trip to St George’s Park (they also visited in 2014 and 2016).The facilities have absolutely everything — which explains their popularity. Valencia and Genoa were also there this summer.However, while Flick and his team relished getting down to work, some within the squad joked about the lack of entertainment — beyond snooker and table tennis.(Harriet Massey/Getty Images for DFB)“It’s great for the coaching staff, but for the players it’s almost like a prison,” joked a dressing room source, speaking anonymously as they did not have permission to comment.