Puyol back in Barcelona for match against Santander
Barcelona captain Carles Puyol is back in the Catalans' squad for Sunday's trip to Racing Santander in La Liga, after missing Wednesday's Champions League encounter with Bayer Leverkusen.
- Agence France-Presse
- Updated: March 10, 2012 08:30 pm IST
Barcelona captain Carles Puyol is back in the Catalans' squad for Sunday's trip to Racing Santander in La Liga, after missing Wednesday's Champions League encounter with Bayer Leverkusen.
An adductor injury kept Puyol out of the defending European champions' 7-1 last-16 second-leg victory against the Bundesliga outfit and, while he has not yet been given the green light by the club's doctors to play, he does form part of a 19-man squad announced on Saturday.
Puyol is therefore a contender to replace the suspended Gerard Pique in the heart of Pep Guardiola's defence.
Barcelona also confirmed that Thiago Alcantara, Alexis Sanchez, Eric Abidal, David Villa, Ibrahim Afellay and Andreu Fontas are all sidelined due to injury.
The reigning Spanish title-holders are ten points behind Real Madrid at the top of La Liga, while opponents Racing are in the relegation zone and will be playing their first match since the appointment of new coach Alvaro Cervera.