Barcelona manager Hansi Flick has received a boost before Saturday’s La Liga meeting with Getafe, with goalkeeper Joan Garcia returning to full team training after recovering from the injury that ruled him out against Sevilla.
According to Marca, Garcia took part in Wednesday’s session alongside his team-mates, reducing Barcelona’s growing list of unavailable players.
The goalkeeper injured his right knee during the first half of the meeting with Racing on 16 September after making an awkward movement. He was unable to continue after the interval and was subsequently left out of Barcelona’s match against Sevilla at the Ramon Sanchez-Pizjuan.
Garcia’s injury was not considered serious, but it also meant he was not selected by Spain manager Luis de la Fuente for international duty.
The goalkeeper has been Flick’s first choice this season and his return to group training suggests he could be available to start when La Liga resumes. Barcelona host Getafe at Spotify Camp Nou on Saturday.
Raphinha remains sidelined
Raphinha has yet to rejoin Barcelona’s main training group after returning early from Brazil duty because of an injury to the back of his right thigh.
Frenkie de Jong, meanwhile, continued working with the squad on Wednesday, although he only took part in part of the session. The Netherlands international returned to group training on Tuesday after recovering from a knee injury that had kept him out since August.
Barcelona’s remaining injury list includes Rony and Andreas Christensen.
International players return
Several players who had been away with their national teams also returned to training on Wednesday. Jules Kounde, Joao Cancelo, Marc Bernal, Xavi Espart and Hamza Abdelkarim all worked under Flick.
The rest of Barcelona’s international players are expected back on Thursday, including members of the Spain squad and Livakovic.
Iker Rodriguez, who plays for Barcelona’s reserve side, also joined the first-team session.
