Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick has on Friday provided an update on the wellbeing of midfield starlet Gavi.
And the news will no doubt be met with collective delight on the part of the Barcelona faithful.
This comes amid confirmation that the youngster is now ready to feature from the off in competitive fixtures once more.
Gavi, for his part, is of course fresh off a long-awaited return to the pitch.
After suffering a torn ACL whilst lining out for Spain late last year, the 20-year-old was afforded his first competitive appearance for 11 months late in October.
And, since, his reintroduction to first-team action has been as gradual as possible.
All told, Gavi has been brought on from the bench on six occasions, only one appearance of which lasted for longer than 10 minutes.
Barcelona legend Lionel Messi has on Friday spoken out on the stellar start to the campaign being enjoyed by the current crop of stars.
Barca, of course, are in the midst of nothing short of a brilliant opening to the term.
All told, across 17 fixtures in all competitions to date, the Catalans have racked up wins in all but three, enough to surge clear atop the La Liga standings.
Widespread credit for as much has gone to new head coach Hansi Flick, who in a short space of time has managed to completely revolutionise the club’s way of playing.
And, as alluded to above, one individual who has been left altogether impressed along the way comes in the form of Barcelona icon Lionel Messi.
Speaking during an as-of-yet unreleased interview with 3cat, as cited late this week, eight-time Ballon d’Or winner Messi had the following to say when drawn on Flick’s.
Arsenal forward Leandro Trossard has made a swift and unexpected return to training after concerns about an injury sustained during international duty with Belgium.
The 28-year-old was forced off the pitch during Belgium’s 1-0 defeat to Israel in a European Championship qualifier. Starting the match, Trossard managed just 37 minutes before being substituted for Johan Bakayoko after appearing visibly uncomfortable.
Belgium head coach Domenico Tedesco addressed the situation in his post-match comments, confirming that Trossard, along with defender Zeno Debast, had joined the team’s growing injury list.
“I believe we had 21 injured players in the previous qualifying stage, and today we lost Leo Trossard and Zeno Debast to injuries,” Tedesco said, as quoted by UEFA.
However, in a positive turn of events, Trossard was spotted back in training at Arsenal’s Sobha Realty Training Centre ahead of the Gunners’ Premier League clash against Nottingham Forest this weekend.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta confirmed the forward’s recovery and expressed cautious optimism during his pre-match press conference.
“There’s been some positives, some others not so,” Arteta said. “Trossard seems to be okay. He trained this morning and seems to be feeling good. We will assess everything with the doctor right now, as he was able to be part of that session, so that’s good.
Mikel Arteta has confirmed that Arsenal right-back Ben White is facing “months” on the sidelines after suffering a knee injury.
The 27-year-old has been dealing with different issues all season and has missed games against PSG, Leicester, Southampton and Bolton. After struggling through until the November international break though, the decision was taken for him to undergo surgery in order to finally address the ongoing problems.
“Ben is gonna be out for months unfortunately,” the Spaniard confirmed in his pre-match press conference. “It’s been different kinds of struggles. It’s never been the same thing. We had to make a decision. It’s not been improving in the last few weeks unfortunately.
“We know that Ben is going to push every boundary but it got to a point a where we have to protect the player and we decided to do the surgery. He agreed with that and unfortunately that’s going to keep him out for a few months.”
The news leaves Arteta struggling for depth at right-back, with Takehiro Tomiyasu dealing with an ongoing knee injury of his own. The Japan international is set to travel away from north London in order to continue his rehab, but Arteta was unable to provide a timescale on when he might be back.
Mikel Arteta will be eager to return to winning ways after the international break. Arsenal will lock horns with Nottingham Forest at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday afternoon as both sides look to climb the Premier League table.
The Gunners have won just five points from a possible 15 in the English top-flight since October, with their only victory coming against Southampton at the start of last month. They’ve dropped to fourth in the English top-flight, falling nine-points behind Liverpool in the title race.
While the North Londoners trail by some distance, Arteta wants his players to ‘show their teeth’. Earlier this month, he said: “Win, win and win because these guys, they don’t stop winning, so that’s what we have to do. When it gets nasty, show your teeth and show how much you want it.
Barcelona return from the international break to begin their end of the year schedule with a very difficult La Liga trip against Celta Vigo at Balaídos, looking to return to winning ways after a defeat to Real Sociedad last time out.
The had won seven games in a row in all competitions before the loss at Anoeta, and will hope to regain that brilliant form to maintain their comfortable position at the top of the table. But Celta are having a very good season and have played nothing but highly entertaining games so far, and are always very difficult to beat at home.
Defense
Barça’s injury issues continue and a few key pieces are missing as a busy calendar and a couple of brutal matches in December to finish 2024, but Flick has already proven he can deal with an injury crisis and still have a competitive team on the pitch every single time.
The good news is none of the starting back four of Jules Kounde, Pau Cubarsí, Iñigo Martínez and Alejandro Balde are an injury question mark for Saturday, so Barça’s excellent backline players can all start in this one in front of Iñaki Peña.
Midfield
Flick has a nice selection headache in midfield as Frenkie de Jong and Gavi continue to work their way back to full fitness, and we think the coach will pick his Dutch captain for a big game on the road focusing on more control and giving Marc Casadó more freedom to be a pitbull all over the pitch.
That would also allow Pedri to play further forward as a number 10 in this one, which might prove crucial given Lamine Yamal is likely to miss out due to injury. Celta play a back five without the ball which calls for extra creative spark in the final third, and Pedri’s ability to play incisive passes to the forwards through the middle could be a decisive factor on Saturday.
Attack
Yamal’s probable absence opens a spot up front that will likely be occupied by Dani Olmo, who had a very productive time with Spain during the international window and will be hoping to continue the brilliant start to his Barça career. We think he will start on the left in this one, with Raphinha moving to the right as a more natural replacement for Yamal and Robert Lewandowski, who is good to go after a minor back issue, leading the line as usual.
Possible XI: Peña; Kounde, Cubarsí, Iñigo, Balde; Casadó, De Jong, Pedri; Raphinha, Lewandowski, Olmo (4-3-3)
All three of Barcelona’s forwards have been unstoppable this season. While Lewandowski has led the way in terms of goalscoring, Raphinha has been a stunning playmaker and Lamine Yamal has led counterattacks lethally.
The teenage sensation, in particular, has enjoyed a lion’s share of the limelight for his ability to play at such a level so young and even won the Kopa Trophy earlier this year. In fact, he even finished in the top 10 of the Ballon d’Or race.
Yamal already has plenty of records to his name and continues to amaze every time he takes to the field. It is no surprise that the two games in which he started on the bench are the games Barcelona have lost in La Liga.
Paul Pogba praises Yamal
Speaking in a recent interview via Fabrizio Romano, French superstar Paul Pogba spoke about Barcelona’s young pearl and did not hold back in showering praise on the teenager.
Pogba then went on to rhetorically suggest how incredible it would be if the youngster helped Barcelona break the UEFA Champions League curse.
Despite having two weeks to rest in the international break, Yamal still has minor discomfort in his ankle and is thus expected to miss the game against Celta Vigo this weekend. His presence against Brest midweek is also under doubt.
Arsenal have the chance to reduce the gap between themselves and Liverpool when Premier League action resumes this weekend.
The Gunners have not played a competitive game since their 1-1 draw with London rivals Chelsea on November 10, with the November international break offering Mikel Arteta’s squad the perfect chance to rest and recover. Martin Odegaard remained in north London instead of joining up with the Norway squad, while the likes of Riccardo Calafiori and Takehiro Tomiyasu are nearing returns.
Long-term absentee Kieran Tierney was even pictured in training this week and could even be in contention for the visit of Nottingham Forest on Saturday. Nuno Espirito Santo’s side will arrive at Emirates Stadium full of confidence, with the Reds on the same number of points as Arsenal in the league.
Currently fourth, the Gunners are four points behind Manchester City in second and nine points adrift of table toppers Liverpool. Looking at the fixtures, though, Arsenal have the opportunity to put the pressure on both sides this weekend.
That’s because Arsenal take on Nottingham Forest at 3pm on Saturday, while Man City face Tottenham in the Saturday evening match at 5:30pm. Liverpool, meanwhile, travel to Southampton on Sunday, with Arne Slot’s side kicking off at 2pm.
Arsenal will return to Premier League action tomorrow when they welcome Nottingham Forest to the Emirates Stadium as Mikel Arteta’s men look to return to winning ways.
Before the international break, the Gunners failed to win in each of their previous four league games. After losing to Bournemouth in October, only two points were picked up from fixtures against Liverpool, Newcastle and Chelsea.
The visit of Forest this weekend presents an opportunity to return to winning ways before it’s too late. To make sure they remain within a shout of being crowned champions of England, Arteta could turn to strengthening his squad in January.
Following the festive period, which sees the north Londoners play 10 times, the window will reopen for business. Despite there being over a month until it does, a number of players are already being linked.
Arsenal were handed a boost ahead of the visit of Nottingham Forest this weekend with a long-term injury concern seen back in training. The Gunners will need all the resources they can get as they try to play catch up with Premier League leaders Liverpool, who attain a nine-point gap.
Arsenal will face an in-form Forest side, who have seen fewer players leave on international duty this week. It means many of their regulars have had a fortnight’s rest. Conversely, the exit of internationals meant only a sparse number of senior stars participated in Arsenal training earlier this week.
Several of them will only have a turnaround of a few days by the time they land back in London, while a number of injury concerns persist. Bukayo Saka apparently faces a race against time to be ready for Saturday while the fitness of Riccardo Calafiori is unclear.
A score of academy youngsters were called up to train with the first-team members who have remained at the club over the break. A number of things were notable in the footage shared by club media.
One was the sight of Kieran Tierney back on the ball. The left-back has not been seen since suffering a hamstring with Scotland at Euro 2024 but seems to be edging back to fitness.
There has been transfer speculation surrounding the defender amid questions over where he sits in Mikel Arteta’s plans. Tierney – who missed the whole of pre-season due to his setback – has not played for Arsenal since last year’s Community Shield final amid last season’s loan spell at Real Sociedad.
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