Spanish giants Barcelona look set to see be boosted by an imminent return to Xavi’s Hernandez’s attacking ranks, it has been confirmed.

The player ready to link back up with his teammates in the Catalan capital? Luuk de Jong.

Dutch international de Jong has not featured in either of the Blaugrana’s fixtures on the back of the international break, owing to a combination of fresh competition for places at the Camp Nou and, more importantly, the hitman returning a positive test for Covid-19.

As per a report from the reliable Toni Juanmartí, though, on Friday, de Jong was spotted back at the club’s training ground, ahead of rejoining first-team training at some point over the course of the day.

The veteran attacker, in turn, is expected to be available for selection on Sunday evening, when Barca make the trip to Levante for the club’s latest La Liga outing.

And Xavi may well opt to make swift use of his returning striker’s talents, with the likes of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Ferran Torres in line for a potential rest on the back of their midweek endeavours on the European front.

Torres on target

The Blaugrana, of course, were back in action just last night, when Xavi and co. made the trip to Germany for the first-leg of their Europa League quarter-final showdown with Bundesliga outfit Eintracht Frankfurt.

A hard-fought 90 minutes ultimately culminated in the tie being positioned on a knife-edge ahead of next week’s return leg in Catalunya.

It was hosts Eintracht who opened the game’s early in the 2nd-half courtesy of an Ansgar Knauff stunner, but Barcelona soon levelled things up when Ferran Torres slotted home in style on the back of a clever exchange with Frenkie de Jong, rounded out the scoring at the Deutsche Bank Park.

 

Chelsea star Mason Mount attracting interest from FC Barcelona

Xavi explains why key Barcelona duo were rested vs Eintracht Frankfurt