Barcelona captain Lionel Messi has returned to training after missing the team’s wins over Inter Milan and Real Madrid over the last week.
The Argentine superstar sustained a broken arm during Barca’s 4-2 win against Sevilla on October 20, which forced him to sit out the club’s last two fixtures.
In his absence, Ernesto Valverde’s men made light work of Inter Milan in the Champions League last Wednesday, winning 2-0 thanks to goals from Rafinha and Jordi Alba, which they followed up with a huge La Liga victory on Sunday.
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A Luis Suarez hat-trick inspired the Spanish champions to a famous 5-1 win against Los Blancos at the Camp Nou, which showed that even without Messi, Barca are still very much a force to be reckoned with.
Despite their recent success, Valverde admitted that the team has still missed their talismanic skipper, as he prayed for his swift return during a news conference at the weekend, as per Yahoo Sport.
Sure enough, his prayers have been answered as on Wednesday morning Messi has returned to training with the senior squad ahead of schedule, as Barcelona’s official Twitter account has announced.
Leo #Messi returns to training?! pic.twitter.com/W2ziDusJKJ
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) October 31, 2018
The 31-year-old attacker had been at his electrifying best prior to picking up the arm injury against Sevilla, scoring 12 goals in his first 11 games in all competitions this term.
At the moment Barcelona look unstoppable and now that Messi is back they will be even more difficult to stop, with a busy run of fixtures on the horizon heading into the winter period.
Next up for Valverde’s side is a Copa Del Rey clash against Cultural Leonesa tonight before a return to La Liga action on Saturday against Rayo Vallecano, which Messi could feature in if his recovery continues to go smoothly.