Pique back in training and will be ready for Malaga on Saturday

Barcelona defender Gerard Pique is in the final phase of his recovery from an ankle injury. After picking up the knock against Manchester City in October, the centre-back has finally recovered and is expected to have the all clear to return on Saturday against Malaga. 

On Wednesday, Pique, who was at Wembley to watch Spain’s 2-2 draw with England on Tuesday, worked as normal with the rest of his teammates under Luis Enrique’s orders. Jordi Alba was also training with the group for the second day running and both are set to be available this weekend.

Jeremy Mathieu should also be available, but the Blaugrana will be without injured duo Samuel Umtiti and Andres Iniesta and the suspended Luis Suarez. Paco Alcacer, therefore, could be handed a chance to score his first goal for the club since making the switch from Valencia in the summer.  

With several players still not back from international duty, Luis Enrique called up several youngsters to complete the session: Abeledo, Aleña, Carbonell, Alfaro and Marc Cardona.