Injured FC Barcelona Star Could Make Napoli Champions League Comeback
An injured FC Barcelona star could make his comeback against Napoli in the Champions League as highlighted by numerous outlets in Spain including AS and Mundo Deportivo.
January 31 tests on Ferran Torres revealed that the forward had injured the biceps femoris muscle in his right hamstring after he picked up a knock on the eve of a La Liga match with Osasuna at the Montjuic Stadium.
This development was confirmed by the club via an official statement, but as always there wasn’t a timeframe specified for his recovery.
Many outlets reported his expected absence as four to five weeks, though, which means that as we are now approaching mid-March, the Spain international is behind schedule.
According to AS, however, Torres could finally return to the fold for Tuesday’s must-win last 16 second leg tie with Napoli in the Champions League where the score starts at 1-1 on aggregate.
The paper’s Barca correspondent Javi Miguel, who is close to Xavi Hernandez’s entourage, writes that the manager will use a training session on Monday to determine “whether or not he can finally count” on the former Manchester City forward.
Apparently there are strong indications that the 24-year-old can return to training with the first team squad at the turn of the week. And if Torres feels good, he should enter the squad list to face the reigning Italian Serie A champions.
If the player still doesn’t see himself as fit enough to take to the pitch once more in 2023/2024, however, he will be put back to the weekend when Barca travels to the Spanish capital to take on Atletico Madrid at the Metropolitano.
It goes without saying that Torres would not march straight into the starting XI in either fixture, both because of his lack of match sharpness and the risks of him suffering a relapse.
On his usual left wing, Xavi is likely to go with loanee Joao Felix for both Napoli and Atletico – the latter of whom is his parent club which he scored the winning goal against back at the Montjuic in December.
At present, Torres is on a sick list which is also occupied by his fellow La Roja internationals Gavi and Pedri in addition to midfielder Frenkie de Jong.
