Barcelona have received positive signals ahead of the upcoming Betis visit. The Catalans have resumed training at the club's Ciutat Esportiva base after a break on Wednesday, which came after a convincing 4-1 victory over Galatasaray in Istanbul in the Champions League.
Hans-Dieter Flick's team is now turning its attention to Saturday's match against Betis, which will be held at the La Cartuja stadium in Seville. The most encouraging news from the latest session is Rafinha's return to training with the main group.
According to information from „Mundo Deportivo“ The Brazilian winger is training with his teammates for the first time since the injury he suffered on September 29 during the friendly match between Brazil and Australia.
Due to swelling in the back of his right thigh, Rafinha was forced to train individually and missed Barcelona's recent matches against Getafe and Galatasaray. His recovery is now entering a decisive phase, but the final decision on his possible participation against Betis is yet to be made by the coaching and medical staff.
There is also positive news regarding Frenkie de Jong. The Dutch midfielder, who has been training with the team for more than a week, is also fully participating in the session. He is recovering from an injury sustained during his commitments with the Dutch national team at the World Cup.
De Jong is still awaiting final clearance from the medical team before returning to play. Hansi Flick has already expressed hope that he will be able to count on the midfielder for the away game in Seville, which would be a serious plus for the Catalans.
During training, the German specialist had almost all the available players at his disposal. Andreas Christensen and Rooney Barji were left out of the session.
In the coming days, Flick, together with the medical staff and the players themselves, will assess whether Rafinha and De Jong are ready to be included in the group for the match against Betis. Their return would give Barcelona additional opportunities at a time when the team is striving to maintain its good form after its convincing success in Europe.