Lionel Messi is back in training with Barcelona ahead of their Catalan Derby against Espanyol in La Liga 2019-20 on Saturday. The Argentine was enjoying his time off from football with his family in Argentina where the forward celebrated Christmas and New Year. Now the Barcelona captain is back to business as he trains with the first team ahead of their weekend clash against the cross-town rivals. The Spanish giants are on top of the table in their domestic league meanwhile Espanyol are at the bottom, five points away from safety. Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo Get Back to Work After Partying Hard During New Year's Celebrations (See Pics).

Barcelona captain Lionel Messi is back in training with the first team after enjoying his holidays in Argentina and looks all set for this Catalan Derby and ready to pile even more misery on the bottom club Espanyol. The Spanish giants announce their squad for this clash in Friday and big stars such as Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Sergio Busquests and Antoine Griezmann are all included but the main absentee from the team is goal-keeper Marc-Ander Ter Stegen. The German is out with a knee injury is expected to miss at least two or three weeks of action. Youth team players such as Ansu Fati, Carles Perez and Inaki Pena are all included in the team for this match. Tough Barcelona Derby Debut for New Espanyol Coach Abelardo Fernandez.

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Full Barcelona Squad

Leo the Lion

This will be also a special match for the new Espanyol coach Abelardo Fernandez as his side hope to pull off an upset against the league leaders. Abelardo is the La Liga side’s third coach of the season as they hope he can get them out of the relegation zone.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 04, 2020 08:48 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).