Will it solve the crisis? A major boost for Flick before the Atletico Madrid clash
A medical decision settles the participation
Hansi Flick got a boost in training after Barcelona's win over Deportivo Alavés at the Spotify Camp Nou. Andreas Christensen rejoined the group, a significant step in his recovery from a muscular injury to the rectus femoris muscle of his left thigh.
According to Spanish newspaper "Sport", the Danish defender picked up the injury on 19 September during Barcelona's clash against Sevilla at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán. He has now returned to group training on a partial basis, a month and a half after landing on the injury list.
Christensen took part in a portion of the rehabilitation work. The players who started against Alavés sat out the session on the pitch at Camp Tito Vilanova, inside the Joan Gamper Sports City, limiting themselves to recovery exercises in the gym, with ball work confined to those who had seen fewer minutes.
Four youngsters from Barcelona Atlètic also featured: Àlex Camps, Guillem Victor, Ibrahima Toncara and Hamza Abdelkarim. All four had been added to the squad for the last match without any of them getting on the pitch.
Whether the quartet keep their places for Tuesday's clash against Aston Villa in the UEFA Champions League, on home soil, remains to be seen.
Christensen, meanwhile, looks highly unlikely to be cleared before the European tie, barring a major surprise. Barcelona will hold only one full training session before facing the English side, and the Dane's weeks away from the pitches make getting him ready for such a demanding game the day after tomorrow extremely difficult.
Much depends on how his condition develops. If it progresses well, his chances of joining the squad for the trip to face Atlético Madrid at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano in La Liga look strong.
Flick had already addressed the injury crisis across his defence after the comprehensive win over Alavés, saying: "We do not yet know when they will return, but we are working on it. Their condition is developing well, but our situation is not ideal. We will have to hold out through the next two matches, and I hope one or two players will return. We do not want to take risks, and after that we will have a two-week period to get the players back. We will see how we handle the situation, because we need all our players until the end of the season."
