Barcelona delay Andres Iniesta fitness decision for Chelsea Champions League decider

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Vaishali Bhardwaj13 March 2018

Barcelona will leave it late to decide whether Andres Iniesta will feature against Chelsea in Wednesday's Champions League showdown.

Iniesta has not played for Barcelona since March 4 when he suffered a hamstring injury in the club's 1-0 La Liga win against Atletico Madrid.

The 33-year-old returned to training with Barcelona on Monday and will undergo another session on Tuesday evening ahead of the last-16 second leg.

Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde confirmed to reporters that he speak with Iniesta before any decision is made but admitted starting him against Antonio Conte’s side could be a risk.

"He played a big part of the training session without a problem, we will see today and how he feels," Valverde said.

"It is down to the player, I don’t know if he will play or not. When a game like this, the player is always more willing to play. Is the risk too excessive or not? We will see."

Should Iniesta not make Valverde's starting XI, it will pose a problem as Philippe Coutinho is ineligible to play against Chelsea due to his participation in the Champions League with Liverpool before his January move to Barcelona.

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