April 26, (THEWILL) – Barcelona Femeni’s Alexia Putellas could make her long-awaited return from injury in Thursday’s UEFA Champions League clash against Chelsea at Camp Nou.
Putellas, a two-time Ballon d’Or winner, has been sidelined with an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury since last July. However, she has been back in training with the team for a few weeks and could finally take the field in the second leg of the UWCL semi-final.
Barca head coach, Jonatan Giraldez, has stated that the decision on whether to include Putellas in the squad will be made after the training session. “We will not take any risks with Alexia. The priority tomorrow is to qualify for the final. As a coach, I will not take any risk if she is not 100 per cent,” he said, urging for patience with the midfielder.
Barcelona only needs to avoid defeat in the second leg to make it to their fourth UWCL final in five years, after beating Chelsea 1-0 at Stamford Bridge last week. The winners of the tie will face either Arsenal or Wolfsburg in the final in June. If Putellas plays in the crucial match, it will mark 300 days since her last appearance for club or country.
Kick-off at Camp Nou will be at 5:45 pm on Thursday.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
