Luis Suarez is fit to face Athletic Bilbao as Barcelona bid to pick up their second trophy of a potential treble in Saturday’s Kings Cup final, coach Luis Enrique said on Friday.
Barcelona striker Luis SuA?rez once again trained normally today with the squad and only needs the medical green light to be able to play in tomorrowa s Copa del Rey final against Athletic in the Camp Nou. He will likely get the nod from the doctors at the same time as Luis Enrique names his squad.Everything points, then, at the Uruguayan striker, who missed the last two games of the Liga with a slight strain, being in the starting XI for the final. Hea s now taken part in three full training session with his teammates.
Suarez has been in lethal form over the final months of the season, combining with Lionel Messi and Neymar as the Catalan side’s forward line has propelled Barca towards repeating their 2009 treble triumph.The Uruguayan was slow off the mark following his return from a biting ban in October but has since scored crucial goals and helped to take some of the pressure off Messi, who has also been back to his best since January. Barcelona have won their fifth La Liga title in seven years and face Bilbao this weekend before the Champions League final against Juventus on June 6 in Berlin. Suarez picked up a hamstring injury in the Champions League semi-final second leg at Bayern Munich which caused him to miss the last two league games of the season, but he is now expected to play his first final for the club, having moved from Liverpool last year.
“He is fine and trained all this week without problems,” Luis Enrique told the press.”As things stand he is ready to play along with the others. I expect a game where Athletic will go out to pressure and not let you relax. They play at a high tempo and so we will have to be sharp and take advantage of the moments when we can cause damage.”
The striker has not received medical clearance to play but signs point that el Pistolero will not miss either the Copa del Rey final against Athletic Bilbao nor the Champions League final against Juventus.That Suarez is training with the group is a good sign, as he had been doing individual work for the past two weeks. Even on Monday, Suarez trained apart from the group, as did Jeremy Mathieu. Yesterday, despite having a day off, Suarez was back in individual training in a bid to reach full fitness.If the Cup final was the only thing on the horizon, Suarez would almost definitely take part. But with an eye towards the European final, the medical staff has let Suarez recover at a slower but steadier pace.
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