Barcelona handed major Ousmane Dembele fitness boost

The France international has missed the Catalan outfit's last six matches in all competitions with the hamstring problem that he picked up against Girona at the end of January.

Dembele had not been expected to return until the middle of March, but Xavi has said that the 25-year-old was back in training on Friday and is closing in on a return to action.

The Frenchman is "not 100% ready", though, so he will not be involved against Almeria on Sunday night.

"He is fine, yesterday he trained well. He looks fine, but is not 100% ready yet. He's about to be back with the team. It depends on his recovery. We trust his instincts, he's fine and that's important," Xavi said during his press conference on Saturday afternoon.

Dembele has been in impressive form for Barcelona during the 2022-23 campaign, scoring eight goals and registering seven assists in 28 appearances in all competitions.

The Catalan outfit were eliminated from the Europa League on Thursday night courtesy of their 2-1 loss at Manchester United in the second leg of their knockout round playoff.

However, the club are still fighting on two fronts, with the first leg of their Copa del Rey semi-final against Real Madrid set to take place at the start of March.

"When you win the league with a big club like Barcelona, it is a good season. We are now counting on ourselves and we have important matches. If we win the double, it will be a great season," Xavi added.

The Barcelona head coach also provided fitness updates on Ronald Araujo and Ansu Fati ahead of the clash with Almeria.

Araujo was substituted in the latter stages of the clash with Man United on Thursday, but the Uruguay international is "100% ready" for this weekend's contest.

Fati, meanwhile, could return from a knee problem against Real Madrid next week.

"We hope that Fati will be ready for El Clasico on Thursday," said Xavi after it was revealed that the Spain international had suffered an injury in training on Friday.

Barcelona are currently eight points clear of second-placed Real Madrid at the top of the table, although the gap would be down to five points if Los Blancos beat Atletico Madrid on Saturday night.