Barcelona veteran defender set to return from injury against Mallorca

While it has been a week of bad news on the injury front for FC Barcelona, they have received some positive news heading into Friday night’s clash against RCD Mallorca.

Marcos Alonso back in training

Indeed, as per SPORT, Marcos Alonso has returned to full team training today with the rest of the squad and is in line to return for the upcoming match against Mallorca.

The veteran left-back has been out of action since November due to a back problem. Alonso initially opted for conservative treatment, but it did not yield the desired results.

As such, the ex-Chelsea ace underwent surgery in early January, following which it was expected that he would be out for two months.

Only earlier this week, we reported that Alonso had entered the final stretch of his recovery and was closing in on a return.

Now, it appears that the Spaniard could be back as early as this Friday when Barça host Mallorca at the Montjuic.

Set to return. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)

The 33-year-old trained normally with the rest of the group today and could be a part of the squad list for Friday night’s match.

Alonso has played just seven times this season, but with Alejandro Balde ruled out for the remainder of the campaign, he could get some minutes in the matches to come.

A number of youngsters also in training

Apart from Alonso’s return to group training being the highlight of today’s session, Xavi also called up a number of players from the club’s youth and reserve ranks to work with the senior team.

Indeed, Diego Kochen, Pau Cubarsí, Hector Fort, Marc Guiu, Marc Casad, Unai Hernandez, and Moha Moukhliss all trained with the first team today.

Meanwhile, Pedri, Frenkie de Jong, Gavi, Alejandro Balde, and Ferran Torres were absent. The latter is close to recovering from his injury but will not be ready for Friday’s game.