Barcelona boss Ronald Koeman has spoken about the team’s fitness and given updates ahead of the Deportivo Alavés clash.
He has assured that goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen is fit, but still has to recover fully from his injury to feature in the match. Along with him, Samuel Umtiti is a few training sessions short of coming back to full fitness.
“Ter Stegen is fine but he needs a bit more fitness to play and Umtiti needs to go through a few more training sessions for me to start counting on him,” said Koeman.
Barcelona also saw centre back Ronald Arujo hobble off the pitch during the Juventus match in the Champions League clash with a muscle injury and his return date is expected to be November 19.
“He is fast and strong. We count on him. He has a bright future. He has to improve in several aspects – especially in playing out from the back and his first touch – but overall, I’m very happy with him.”
Riqui Puig has been dropped from the squad and Koeman has explained why.
“Dropping him from the squad was a technical decision. In several games we have had 23 players in the squad but for me, that’s too many players. I prefer that players train well rather than travel if they’re not going to play,” Koeman added.
Expect an intense clash in the upcoming Alaves match tomorrow!
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