Barcelona have received positive news on the injury front with both Nelson Semedo and Jordi Alba training with the rest of the group after recent injury blows.
The Catalan giants remain top of the La Liga table after 15 games and have sealed their place in the knockout stage of the Champions League.
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In turn, coach Ernesto Valverde will be relatively pleased with how things are going so far this season, although as they continue to compete on multiple fronts, he’ll be desperate to have as close to a fully-fit squad as possible to ensure that they have enough quality and depth to cope.
With that in mind, he’ll be buoyed by the update on Sunday that both Semedo and Alba were able to join in with the rest of the group in training for part of the session at least, as per Mundo Deportivo, and it’s added that the pair are expected to be available for selection to face Real Madrid in the crunch showdown on December 18.
Time will tell if they are able to avoid any setbacks between now and then and can build their match fitness to a point where it makes sense for them to start, as they’ll have games against Inter and Real Sociedad to target to get minutes under their belts in the coming week to step up their recovery to the next phase.
Given their defensive qualities and ability to offer real threats down the flanks with their attacking attributes, the full-back pair are undoubtedly two key pieces in the puzzle for Barcelona and Valverde to make them a more balanced and experienced XI.
In turn, it will be good news to have them back in the coming weeks, but time will tell if they will be able to return for El Clasico in what could be a decisive encounter in the title race.