21-year-old Barcelona star returns as the team starts its preparations for El Clasico | OneFootball

FC Barcelona had to suffer a heartbreaking defeat in their last outing as they played against Inter Milan in the second leg of the UEFA Champions League semi-final tie. The Blaugranes lost this roller coaster of a tie with the barest of margins, as the game ended with a 4-3 scoreline in the Italians’ favor.

The Catalan team gave its all in this game, but was still unable to get to the final. As a result, the morale of the fans and the players would be a bit low at the moment.

But they have a golden opportunity to get their spirits back high as they face their arch-rivals, Real Madrid, in their upcoming game, and a win in this match would wrap up the title for Barcelona.

Alejandro Balde returns to group training

In fact, SPORT reports that the Blaugrana team has already returned to train for this game after a day’s break, and Alejandro Balde, who was unable to play in the Inter Milan match, also trained with the rest of his teammates.

The Spaniard was previously expected to be available for the UCL match, but decided to sit that game out so he could return in better shape for the upcoming El Clásico. He returned to group training on Thursday, so he has enough time to regain full fitness by Sunday, when the match is set to take place.

Hansi Flick is confident Alejandro Balde will complete the three remaining training sessions prior to that match and thus can play against the Merengues from the start.

Casado can also return

In Balde’s absence, Hansi Flick deployed Gerard Martin as the team’s left-back for the most part. The 23-year-old did not disappoint, but he started the last two games and would have accumulated a lot of fatigue.

Barcelona defender Gerard Martin. [Photo by Judit Cartiel/Getty Images]

Another player who can return to the squad for the game against Real Madrid is the midfielder Marc Casado. However, he would probably get only a few minutes in this game as he has been on the sidelines for quite some time and needs to return to game rhythm gradually. Furthermore, Flick would not opt to rotate his fixed starters, Pedri and Frenkie de Jong, for such an important game.

Jules Kounde is also working to be available soon, and thus, Marc Bernal remains the only long-term absence for Barcelona.