Barcelona captain Andres Iniesta returned to training on Thursday and could feature in Saturday's league game against Athletic Bilbao at Camp Nou.
Iniesta has been out of action since being taken off with a calf injury at half-time of Barca's Copa del Rey win at Real Sociedad on Jan. 19.
The Blaugrana never revealed a time frame for the midfielder's absence but he's already missed four matches, including Wednesday's 2-1 Copa del Rey semifinal first leg win against Atletico Madrid.
This weekend's visit of Athletic may come too soon for a return to the starting lineup, but he will almost certainly come into contention for the second leg against Atletico on Tuesday.
�� Las mejores fotos del entrenamiento de este jueves en la Ciudad Deportiva https://t.co/N6lQLM8FUX #ForçaBarça pic.twitter.com/YIMsIv85d9
- FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona_es) February 2, 2017
It's the third time this season Iniesta has been sidelined, including a six-week layoff for a knee injury picked up during the win at Valencia at the end of October.
Now 32, he has completed just six first team games in the current campaign, although Barca coach Luis Enrique has insisted fitness problems are not hampering the latter years of his career.
"He's finished six games because the coach has substituted him when he's had the chance, given how important he is for us," he told a news conference in January.
"I try to manage his minutes so that we can enjoy him as much as possible. This time [the injury] is not serious and he'll be back very soon."
Sergio Busquets is also currently out of action with sprained ankle ligaments but unlike Iniesta he has not yet been able to return to training.
Barca haven't said how long he's expected to be missing, but reports in the local media suggested he could have a chance of making a comeback in the return leg against Atletico.