Barcelona boss Quique Setien was handed a major boost on Monday morning as it’s reported that he had a full group at his disposal at training.
The Catalan giants face Real Mallorca in their first game back on Saturday when the La Liga season restarts after the coronavirus lockdown, and they’ll be hoping to make a winning return given they only hold a slender two-point lead over rivals Real Madrid at the top of the table.
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In order to have the best possible chance of doing that, Setien would have been hoping to have as close to a fully-fit squad at his disposal as possible after two months of inactivity, and it appears as though he’s got just that.
According to AS, Lionel Messi was the stand-out player returning to group training on Monday after the Barcelona talisman had been forced to train individually as a precaution having picked up a minor problem last week, as noted by the club’s official site.
However, he was back training alongside his teammates to start the week in a huge boost for all concerned, while Nelson Semedo, Ansu Fati and Chumi all returned too after recovering from their own respective setbacks as it’s noted that ultimately Setien had a full squad available to him.
Therefore, the only absentee for Saturday is likely to be Clement Lenglet who is suspended, and that will be great news for Barcelona as they will need as much quality and depth available in the coming months given that there is essentially a game every three days or so.
Nevertheless, it’s Messi return which will provide the biggest lift, as the 32-year-old has been brilliant again so far this season with 24 goals and 16 assists in just 31 games.
Luis Suarez confirmed over the weekend that he is cleared to return too after recovering from knee surgery and he was seen in the images from training on Monday, as per the AS report above, and so Barcelona look like they’re ready to go.