Iniesta Set to Feature in Chelsea Clash After Recovering From Hamstring Injury & Rejoining Training

Barcelona captain and living legend Andres Iniesta has moved closer to being involved when the Catalans meet Chelsea in the second leg of their Champions League last 16 tie this week after taking part in training on Monday following a recent hamstring injury.

Iniesta suffered the problem during the win over La Liga title rivals Atletico Madrid earlier this month and was subsequently forced to miss the Supercopa de Catalunya and the clash with Malaga.

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But Barça have now reported that he was involved in part of Monday's training session with the rest of the squad. That could well be stepped up further on Tuesday, with Chelsea then visiting Camp Nou on Wednesday night - the tie is finely balanced at 1-1 on aggregate.

Lionel Messi was also present after missing the Malaga fixture. The five-time Ballon d'Or was given leave to witness the birth of third child, Ciro, on the day of the game and was applauded onto the training pitch by his team-mates on Monday.

Nelson Semedo and Denis Suarez were the only injury absentees for head coach Ernesto Valverde, who also kept a handful of Barça B players with the first-team after their recent involvement against Espanyol in the aforementioned regional Super Cup.

Young Englishman Marcus McGuane, a January signing from Arsenal, was among them, as were Carles Alena, Vitinho, Samu Araujo and Jose Antonio Martinez.

Philippe Coutinho is ineligible to face Chelsea as he is cup-tied in the Champions League after playing in the competition for Liverpool earlier this season.