Barcelona's Andres Iniesta is making good progress from the knee injury he picked up against Valencia last month and could even return to action in time for the Clasico against Real Madrid.
The midfielder damaged ligaments in the win at Mestalla on Oct. 22 and was ruled out by the club for six to eight weeks. However, Barca posted a video on Thursday which revealed that Iniesta is already back running again.
After having his knee brace taken off earlier this month, the 32-year-old began running on an anti-gravity machine last week.
On Thursday he was able to take another step forward by working with the ball in a sandpit at the club's training ground.
It was initially feared Iniesta wouldn't play again this year after the challenge from Valencia's Enzo Perez. Recent signs are encouraging, though, and he could yet feature against Madrid on Dec. 3.
���� @andresiniesta8 ����#ForçaBarça https://t.co/qdlkQndEo9
- FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) November 17, 2016
The game against Zinedine Zidane's side comes exactly six weeks after the injury was sustained, so would represent a swift recovery.
Iniesta has already missed games against Granada, Sevilla and Manchester City and won't feature against Malaga this weekend or in the upcoming matches against Celtic, Real Sociedad and Hercules.
But there is good news for Barca coach Luis Enrique in the form of Gerard Pique, Jordi Alba and Jeremy Mathieu returning to training.
The trio are all expected to be available on Saturday, although Samuel Umtiti is out for the next two weeks with a hamstring problem.