Barcelona wonderkids Lamine Yamal and Alejandro Balde have passed a fitness test ahead of Sunday’s La Liga clash against Athletic Bilbao, reports Mundo Deportivo.
Yamal was unable to represent the Spanish national team during the international break and has spent time at the Esportiva de Sant Joan Despi recovering from a muscular problem.
The Blaugranas have now been handed a massive boost with Yamal returning to team training this week. He looks set to play a part in the weekend encounter against Bilbao.
Yamal got on the scoresheet as Barca came from behind to rescue a point at Granada in their final fixture before the international break.
The Spanish prodigy has been a prominent member of Xavi Hernandez’s squad, featuring in every game for the Blaugranas thus far and looks set to continue that trend on Sunday.
The exciting teenager has been in decent form for Xavi’s side, clocking up a goal and two assists in 11 appearances across all competitions, but his maturity on the pitch has also caught the eye.
His availability for Sunday’s crunch fixture will come as a massive boost to Barca, and he could be joined in the starting line-up by his compatriot Balde.
The 20-year-old full-back trained with the Spanish national team and was named in the starting line-up for the 2024 European Championship qualifier against Scotland.
Balde played the first 45 minutes but handed the national team and Barca a huge injury scare when he failed to emerge from the tunnel for the second half after feeling discomfort in his abductors.
However, he has since recovered from the setback and has rejoined Barca’s first-team training, putting him in contention to feature in the Bilbao clash.
Barca need some good news on the injury front, considering they are already missing Pedri, Frenkie de Jong, Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha.
The quartet will be pushing to make the squad for next week’s highly anticipated El Clasico showdown against Real Madrid, but Jules Kounde and Sergi Roberto remain sidelined until further notice.
