F. Lopez returns to training with Barca as Flick leans towards Olmo replacement

Barcelona were hit with a frustrating blow on Monday, when it was revealed that Dani Olmo would miss at least a month of action with a hamstring injury, as they come into a tricky run of games. Hansi Flick must evaluate how to replace him, but there is also positive news on the injury front.

Last week Gavi returned to training with the group, although not the full sessions, and on Monday he was joined by Frenkie de Jong. As per MD, Fermin Lopez completed part of the session too on Tuesday, with two more training sessions before their Champions League clash with AS Monaco on Thursday night. Youngsters Toni Fernandez, Guille Fernandez and Andres Cuenca also took part in the session.

Lopez is not expected to return for the Monaco game, and certainly he won’t be replacing Olmo in the starting line-up. That will be Raphinha, say Diario AS, who will return to a central role, with Ferran Torres playing on the left instead, mimicking Flick’s first attacking line-up in charge of the Blaugrana. Torres’ red card will not have repercussions, after his apology to the side, although he is suspended for their trip to Villarreal at the weekend.

The other options would be to use Ansu Fati on the left, Pablo Torre in the middle or Pau Victor in either position. If Flick wants to be more cautious for his European debut, then he could also bring in Eric Garcia alongside Marc Casado, and push Pedri into the number 10 role, as he did when Olmo was injured against Girona.