Deportivo la Coruna vs Barcelona: Rafinha Alcantara given the all-clear to return to action

Barcelona manager Luis Enrique has finally received some good news ahesd of his team's trip to Deportivo de la Coruna on Wednesday night (20 April), after Rafinha Alcantara has been given medical clearance to return to the squad. The news comes as a special boost for the Catalan side, after earlier on Tuesday, the club revealed that Arda Turan is a major doubt for the La Liga clash due to reported gastritis.

Rafinha has been missed much of the current campaign after his promising start to the season was hampered by a serious knee injury he suffered during the Champions League group stage with Roma, earlier in September 2015. The Brazilian was consequently forced to go under the knife to correct a tear to the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), remaining on the side-lines for over six months.

The 23-year-old made his long-awaited return to action for the Brazilian Under-23 national team, during the recent international break in late March. He stepped up his return to full-fitness with Barcelona by making a late, surprise cameo in the Champions League quarter-final first leg with Atletico Madrid, before Luis Enrique handed him a starting appearance in their recent La Liga defeat to Real Sociedad.

But, the brother of Bayern Munich star, Thiago Alcantara, suffered another setback at the Anoeta Stadium after he picked up a problem in the left adductor. As a result, the Barcelona midfielder has consequently missed both defeats to Atletico Madrid in the Champions League and Barca's latest setback to Valencia in La Liga on the weekend (17 April).

Yet, Barcelona have now revealed that Rafinha has been given the all-clear to return to action for the team's crucial trip to Deportivo de la Coruna. The Catalans need to secure a victory to keep alive their hopes of winning La Liga, following three consecutive defeats to Real Madrid, Real Sociedad and Valencia.

Rafinha had reportedly completed the training session on Tuesday with the rest of his teammates available and is in line to make the squad who will fly to La Coruna on Wednesday morning.

However, Arda Turan couldn't train with gastritis and may be unavailable for the game after he already missed the defeat to Valencia on weekend due to suspension. Gerard Pique is also out for the trip to Deportivo after gaining his 10<sup>th yellow card of the campaign against Valencia. Thomas Vermalem, Jeremy Mathieu and Sandro Ramirez are expected to remain on the side-lines.