Jorge Resurreccion Merodio, better known as Koke, will be back for Atletico Madrid to face Barcelona having missed the past four games through injury.
He was not available for the league matches against Leganes and Athletic, the Borussia Dortmund Champions League game and the cup match against Sant Andreu.
He was back training with his teammates on Tuesday and is looking to get up to pace before the Barcelona game.
The international break has come at a good moment for the player and Diego Simeone with the midfielder a key figure for the coach. He played every minute of the season until he got his injury barring the match against Rayo Vallecano where he came off the bench and played the final 24 minutes.
Even though there is now plenty of competition with Rodrigo and Thomas joining Saul and the more attacking Correa, Lemar and Vitolo, Koke continues to have an important role to play.
Koke is sure to start against Barcelona and have the job of circulating the ball and making decisive passes. It is he who normally takes set-pieces with Griezmann and Thomas taking on the role in his absence.
His absence was costly last season when he missed six games through injury and they ended up being knocked out of the Champions league with two draws against Qarabag along with draws against Villarreal in the league and Elche in the cup.
During this campaign Atletico have coped better with a great result against Borussia Dortmund and a battling display to come out on top against Athletic. Atletico struggled against Leganes and couldn’t get three points with a lack of fluidity in midfield one of the problems.