Barcelona handed injury boost ahead of Real Betis clash

La Liga giants Barcelona have on Thursday been afforded some altogether welcome news on the personnel front. This comes amid confirmation that Raphinha has returned to group training alongside his teammates.

Attacker Raphinha has for his part been forced to sit out Barcelona’s two fixtures in the aftermath of the international break.

After suffering an injury setback whilst lining out for Brazil, the 29-year-old was placed on a conservative treatment programme back in Catalunya’s capital, to minimise the risk of any further damage.

Raphinha, in turn, had been put through individualised training sessions at the Ciutat Esportiva across the week to date.

As alluded to above, though, on Thursday, the former Leeds United man took an altogether considerable step back towards competitive action.

As per a report from Barca insider Carlos Monfort of Diario Sport, Raphinha returned to group training with the rest of Hansi Flick’s squad this morning.

It is added that the Blaugrana’s captain ‘wants to be there’ against Real Betis this weekend, albeit with his status for the clash still somewhat unclear.

Conor Laird – GSFN