Andres Iniesta Returns to Barcelona Training ahead of Sevilla Clash

Barcelona captain Andres Iniesta has given Ernesto Valverde a boost by returning to training with the rest of his available teammates on Thursday morning. However, it is still uncertain whether the Spain international will be 100% fit to feature when the Catalans host Sevilla on Saturday after having missed the last two games against Athletic Bilbao and Olympiakos due to a muscle injury.

The 33-year-old has been hit by varying fitness issues since the beginning of the season and Valverde will surely not risk him unless he proves that he is fully fit during Barcelona's final training session before the game on Friday.

Iniesta will have plenty of time to step up his recovery even if he misses the game, during the upcoming two-week international break.

Yet, Iniesta's availability for weekend would be welcomed by Valverde after injuries to Sergi Roberto and Andre Gomes.

The Spaniard was forced off during the Champions League goalless draw at Olympiakos and will be out for "around five weeks" after scans revealed he suffered a hamstring strain in his right leg.

Meanwhile, Gomes has been ruled out for between three and four weeks after the Portugal international suffered "a thigh injury in his right leg" during the Champions League clash.

The visit of Sevilla is also expected to come too early for Arda Turan and Aleix Vidal with the two players having also missed the last two games due to respective ankle injuries.

Furthermore, Vaverlde will also be without Ousmane Dembele and Rafinha Alcantara to face Sevilla with the injured duo not expected to be back until next year.

The Barcelona boss promoted seven players from the second team into the Thursday's training session with some of them expecting to have a chance of being named in the squad against Sevilla.

"Ernesto Valverde's men started preparing for the eleventh league match of the season at the Camp Nou at 8.45pm CET on Saturday. The training session saw seven Barça B players take part: Moisés, Martínez, Santi Bueno, O. Busquets, D. Concha, Alfaro and Vitinho. Moreover, we saw Andrés Iniesta training with the group," Barcelona confirmed in the club official website.

"The blaugranas will train on Friday at 6.00pm CET in the final session before the Sevilla match in which they will try and secure another victory to end on a high before the next international break."

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