According to reports in Marca, Barcelona coach, Ernesto Valverde is welcoming back international players little by little as he saw Gerard Pique return to training on Tuesday after the centre-back competed in a friendly with Catalonia on Monday evening. But the sad part of the story is that their two star players upfront Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez still weren't able to take part in group work.
Messi worked out inside the gym, while his Uruguayan strike partner did recovery work on his own away from the main group. Both South American forwards are doubtful for Saturday's match against Espanyol.
There will be fireworks when Barcelona and Espanyol face each other at Camp Nou in the Catalan derby. Barcelona aim to move one step closer to defending their La Liga title and Ernesto Valverde’s troops are seen as hot favourites to win Saturday’s football game.
Messi produced a splendid performance in a 4-1 win over Real Betis and all eyes will be on him when the two local rivals meet in their first game following the international break.
Over the years Barca have turned their Camp Nou into a real fortress and seeing that Espanyol are not regarded as good travelers, we are tempted to put our money on Leo Messi and Co.  Los Periquitos failed to impress in a 1-0 loss to Sevilla, which is yet another reason why we are positive that Barcelona are going to win the local derby.

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