Barcelona captain Carles Puyol is optimistic he will be fully fit for the club's gap game of the La Liga season. Puyol has endured a difficult spell with injury of late and had operation to mend a knee difficulty at the finish of the last season.
He has not featured for the Catalans since, counting in their pre-season build up to the new campaign. Champion Barca are due to play Malaga on August 21 to kick-off the start of the new La Liga season and Puyol remains certain in his chances at featuring for Pep Guardiola's surface.
I am feeling better by the day, but procedure is slow. The most significant thing is that I do not feel pain anymore, Puyol said at a press conference.I am really enthusiastic to play, but I will go back only when am I fully healthier and at 100 per cent.
However, Puyol did disclose that there was one thing which was weighing heavy on him - the drawn out Cesc Fabregas saga with Arsenal.Too much has been said previously, everything that was to say has been said, our location is known, so the only thing to do now is leave this subject quiet, he said.
Meanwhile, Barca midfielder Ibrahim Afellay will be sidelined for up to five weeks after suffering a hamstring tear during his side's 2-1 welcoming defeat to Manchester United. According to the Barca website, the 25-year-old Afellay is likely to be out for sandwiched between four to five weeks, connotation he would fail to spot next month's Spanish Super Cup alongside Real Madrid, the UEFA Super Cup against Porto and the start of the new La Liga season.