Barcelona have confirmed that midfield lynchpin Andres Iniesta is back in training ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League meeting with Chelsea.
The Spaniard played an influential role in the first leg 1-1 draw with the Blues at Stamford Bridge having provided the assist for Lionel Messi’s second half strike.
The 33-year-old was forced off in the first half of Barcelona’s 1-0 win over Atletico Madrid at the beginning of March with a hamstring injury that was expected to rule him out of the second leg meeting at Camp Nou.
However, Iniesta has handed head coach Ernesto Valverde a boost after he trained with the first team group ahed of Wednesday’s tie, though his involvement from the off is touch and go given his chequered injury history.
Should Iniesta fail to prove his fitness, Valverde may call on either Ousmane Dembele following his man of the match display against Malaga, or opt for Andre Gomes on the left.
Lionel Messi is also expected to feature from the off after he sat out the 2-0 win over Malaga at the weekend as he attended the birth of his third child.
For Chelsea, N’Golo Kane is set to start in midfield after he came through the 2-1 win over Crystal Palace unscathed having fainted prior to the 1-0 defeat to Manchester City.
Tiemoue Bakayoko, Ross Barkley and David Luiz are unlikely to feature in Spain, however, as they strive to overcome injury problems of their own.
