Xavi offers Robert Lewandowki & Pedri updates before El Clasico
- Barcelona will host fierce rivals Real Madrid on Saturday
- Lewandowski has missed three games with an ankle injury
- Pedri recently returned to training after a hamstring problem kept him out for over two months
By Tom Gott
Barcelona manager Xavi remains hopeful Robert Lewandowski and Pedri will be able to play some part in Saturday's Clasico against Real Madrid.
Lewandowski has missed the team's last three games with an ankle injury, while Pedri has not featured since suffering a hamstring problem in the second match of the season over two months ago.
Both players have recently returned to training but, ahead of Saturday's huge fixture, Xavi was keen to give nothing away about the pair.
"[Lewandowski]'s fine, he did the training with a good feeling, but I won't give anything away here," he told a press conference. "I'm not going to give a clue."
On Pedri, the Barcelona boss added: "We don't want to force anyone, we want to minimise risks. Everyone wants to be there. Tomorrow we'll see."
Pedri's ongoing struggle with various injuries is regularly attributed to the 73 games he played for club and country during the 2020/21 season, when he was just 18 years old, and Xavi admitted it may have played a part in his current battle.
"We will never know, that's the first thing you think of," Xavi confessed. "It seems like one of the conditions, but the injuries are multifactorial.
"With Pedri, we are within the deadlines. Everything is going well, the great news is that players who had five weeks left can be ready in three."
Mundo Deportivo state that Lewandowski and Pedri were both joined in training by returning duo Frenkie de Jong and Jules Kounde, although whether any of them will make it back in time for El Clasico is a different matter.
Indeed, AS report both Lewandowski and De Jong have taken pain-killing injections in the build-up to the game in an attempt to force their way back.
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