INIESTA FITNESS BOOST

Barcelona have been handed a major boost in the title race with the news that Andres Iniesta has been declared fit to return to first-team action.

Andres Iniesta was injured before the Christmas break and it turned out to be a very bad injury for Barcelona, as they could not take advantage of the 3-1 victory be achieved over Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernebeu before getting out playing in the Club World Cup. Andres Iniesta’s absence from the team was also felt in the draw with Espanyol recently, which was the fifth away draw in six matches for Barcelona.

This poor run of form away from home has meant that Real Madrid have been able to extend their lead at the top of the table to 5 points. In a League where there are very few dropped points, the five points seem very significant for Real Madrid. In this situation, Barcelona do need to win all of their remaining matches in order to have the slightest chance of catching Real Madrid at the top of the table. The return of Andres Iniesta would be just the thing manager Guardiola would have demanded at this stage of the season. It is very much like getting a new player in the transfer window.

“On Saturday, Andres Iniesta got the green light from the club doctors after training and will be able to play in the derby on Sunday,” said a statement on Barcelona’s website. Despite returning to the match against Espanyol, Andres Iniesta was not able to influence the match, as he would have desired due to the lack of regular first team action recently. Barcelona will be looking to get back to winning ways having drawn their first game of 2012. Barcelona, however, have progressed to the quarter-finals of the Spanish Cup following their 4-0 win over Osasuna.