On Monday there was a fresh but old face in training at the Ciutat Esportiva, as Barcelona club captain Marc-Andre ter Stegen was in action. His recovery from a knee injury in September continues to progress at an excellent pace.

Brazilian forward Raphinha exercised as normal say Sportand he is expected to be fit for Atletico Madrid on Wednesday night for the second leg of their Copa del Rey semi-final clash at the Metropolitano. As explained by MDter Stegen also did part of the training session with the rest of the group for the first time since his injury.

The Catalan paper explain that targets are beginning to come into focus for the 32-year-old shot-stopper, and that he hopes to be fit to play again towards the end of April. Whether he gets the medical green light is not yet clear, but that is what he is working towards.

It remains equally uncertain as to whether ter Stegen will return to action this season. Previous reports have stated that Hansi Flick intends to continue with Wojciech Szczesny as the number one for the rest of the season. He is keen to give ter Stegen one or two games towards the end of the year, but with the Blaugrana involved in a title race that could go down to the wire, there is a good chance that no obvious opportunity to do so presents itself.

In Europe too, registering ter Stegen after his injury would require unregistering Szczesny, something that Flick has no intention of doing. The Polish goalkeeper also looks set to compete with ter Stegen for the number one spot next season too, with a new contract on the horizon for the 34-year-old. On the flipside, Inaki Pena is primed to depart the club in the summer.