As a strident Arsenal supporter, it pains me to admit it — but, yes, FC Barcelona plays the best football on the face of the planet. (Sidebar: hands off our captain, guys.) And given their deep focus on the beautiful game, we can forgive Xavi and company from not keeping up with the recent spats involving the Park Police in the District. The Park Police, of course, was happy to bring them up to speed.

Yesterday, Barca — in town for a big friendly against Manchester United at FedEx Field tomorrow night — was walking near the White House when the team decided they wanted to hold an impromptu training session on the grounds of the National Mall. Pretty cool, eh? Well, a Park Police officer was quick to shoot that down, informing the team that they couldn’t train there because they had too many people:

“Security said you couldn’t have a group of more than 10 or 15 there,” Barcelona midfielder Xavi said in his native Spanish at a press conference. “We wanted to loosen up a little, stretch. . . . Given that the White House was near so it was normal security, nothing more.”

Further proof that, indeed, the National Park Service probably needs to take a chill pill. The Catalan club will get the chance to properly get loose this morning and tonight at FedEx, though that’s not open to the public and not quite as fun.