Barcelona man makes surprise early return to training from injury | OneFootball

Barcelona were all set to welcome back Marc Casado from injury next season, with the 21-year-old suffering a ligament tear towards the end of March. However Casado is back in training already, and could feature in the final stretches of the season.

Casado went down with an injury against Atletico Madrid in mid-March, after playing more than half an hour with the tear. He was initially ruled out for two months, which would have seen him potentially available for the final game or two of the season, depending on if Barcelona made it to the Champions League final.

Image via El Nacional Europa Press

As reported by Sport though, Casado returned to training with the rest of the group on Friday though, which could put him in contention for the final six or seven games of the season. It seems unlikely he would be thrown back into action against Real Valladolid this weekend, or in a Champions League semi-final against Inter, but he could be a factor in the final few Liga games.

It is also noted by the Catalan daily that midfielders Dani Rodriguez, Noah Darvich and full-back Landry Farre trained with the first team before their trip to Valladolid. On the other hand, Robert Lewandowski and Alejandro Balde, did not train with the group, amid speculation over the return of the latter this weekend.

When could Marc Casado return to action?

It will depend on how long Barcelona want to keep Casado training in his recovery, which may be as little as a week, or could be a couple of weeks. After Inter next week, Barcelona host Real Madrid, travel to Espanyol, play Villarreal at home, and then finally head to San Mames on the final day of the season to play Athletic Club. Given the significance of all of those games, and strength of opposition, there is no obvious return date, but Espanyol might be the most logical expectation in terms of chronology and circumstance.