Official: Busquets out for Atlético Madrid & Dynamo Kyiv games
The Spain international will miss Barcelona's next two games, in the league against Atlético Madrid and the Champions League clash away to Dynamo Kyiv.
Barcelona head coach Ronald Koeman will have to wait until tomorrow to welcome back his players from international duty. On Wednesday, Sergio Busquets returned to Barcelona to visit the club's doctors, who have ruled the midfielder out of Barça's next two games against Atlético Madrid and Dynamo Kyiv, after suffering a mild sprain to his left knee with Spain.
The rest of the squad will return on Thursday, in a session scheduled for 17:00 CET, so that those who have a game on Wednesday also arrive on time for tomorrow's evening session. It remains to be seen if the Dutch coach will have the whole squad at his disposal on Thursday or will have to wait until Friday.
The international players who return from playing with their respective countries, together with those who have been training at the Ciutat Esportiva, will undergo a PCR test before the session. The training, as established by LaLiga protocol in these cases, will be individualised, adhering to the safety guidelines and keeping distance between members of the staff and squad.
Koeman already knows that, apart from Sergio Busquets, he will not be able to count on centre-back Roland Araújo, as AS anticipated, for the game this Saturday. In fact, this week, he is working with the team's defenders, Óscar Mingueza and Ramos Mingo, who are training with the first team. The big question is when will Samuel Umtiti reappear in the first-team squad. The Frenchman has been working with the group for three weeks, although the club say they will not risk the Frenchmanyet as a result of the player's serious injury history.
Coutinho returns
Philippe Coutinho completed his second training session with the group on Wednesday. It should be remembered that the Brazilian got injured in El Clásico on October 24, suffering a tear in his left hamstring. Barcelona take on Atlético Madrid at the Wanda Metropolitano on Saturday in the game of the weekend in LaLiga.