Joan Garcia returns to Barcelona training as Raphinha remains sidelined

Barcelona’s injury list has begun to shrink ahead of their La Liga return, with goalkeeper Joan Garcia back in full training before Saturday’s meeting with Getafe.

Garcia took part in Wednesday’s session alongside his team-mates after recovering from the knee problem that ruled him out of Barcelona’s previous match against Sevilla. His return provides a boost for manager Hansi Flick, who has relied on him as the club’s first-choice goalkeeper.

According to MARCA, Garcia completed the session with the rest of the squad, marking an important step in his recovery. He injured his right knee during Barcelona’s fixture against Racing on 16 September after making an awkward movement in the first half. He was substituted at half-time.

The injury was not considered serious, but it prevented Garcia from playing the second half against Racing and kept him out of the trip to face Sevilla at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan. He was also left out of the Spain squad selected by Luis de la Fuente.

Garcia’s return to group training indicates he could be available to start when Barcelona resume their league campaign against Getafe on Saturday. The match will be played at Spotify Camp Nou.

Raphinha and Christensen remain absent

Raphinha has yet to rejoin full training 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 only for 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 injury list still includes Rony and Andreas Christensen.

International players return

A number of Barcelona’s internationals also returned to training on Wednesday. Jules Kounde, Joao Cancelo, Marc Bernal, Xavi Espart and Hamza Abdelkarim all took part in the session under Flick.

The remaining players who have been away with their national teams are expected back on Thursday. That group includes members of the Spain squad and Livakovic.

Iker Rodriguez, who plays for Barcelona’s reserve side, also joined the first-team training session.