Barcelona veteran unlikely to return against Granada, could come back vs Celta Vigo

Barcelona lock horns with Granada on Sunday night in La Liga, hoping to bridge the gap to the top two teams in the table in Real Madrid and Girona.

After a disappointing run of results, Barça have picked up back-to-back wins against Osasuna and Alaves and will be eager to make it three in a row.

Heading into the game, Xavi is likely to receive some boost on the injury and fitness front, which will be welcome news.

Sergi Roberto likely to miss out

However, according to SPORT, Barcelona will once again have to make do without captain Sergi Roberto against Granada.

Roberto, who celebrated his 32nd birthday on Thursday, has missed the last three games due to an Achilles tendon discomfort.

The captain was expected to resume group training this week and be available to face Granada on Sunday night.

However, even though Roberto has seemingly recovered from the discomfort, he is not yet back training with the rest of the squad and did individual work today.

As such, it is expected that the 32-year-old might not make the squad list for the Granada encounter, with his comeback likely to be slated for the Celta Vigo clash next week.

Ter Stegen, Raphinha to return

Set to return. (Photo by PAU BARRENA/AFP via Getty Images)

But there is good news for Barcelona as both Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Raphinha trained with the group and are all set to receive medical clearance for the weekend clash.

Beyond that, Joao Cancelo, who had suffered some discomfort against Alaves last week, has also trained normally and will be available.

Gavi, Alejandro Balde, Ferran Torres, Joao Felix, and Marcos Alonso remain unavailable due to injuries while Vitor Roque is suspended.

Young talents Unai Hernandez, Pau Víctor, Sergi Domínguez, Mikayil Faye, Mamadou Mbacke, Gerard Martín, Aleix Garrido, and Jaume Cuéllar trained with the first team along with Diego Kochen, Pau Cubarsí, Héctor Fort, Marc Guiu and Marc Casadó.