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Barcelona defender Jordi Alba has recovered from an injury in time for Sunday's Spanish league opener at Athletic Bilbao.

The defending champions also say Neymar is still not ready to play as he recovers from the mumps, but that the Brazil striker has returned to training.

Alba could play at left back in a depleted defence missing the suspended Gerard Pique and Jeremy Mathieu and the injured Adriano.

But coach Luis Enrique said he doubted Alba would be able to play "for the entire match" after being sidelined for 17 days with a right-leg injury.

Luis Enrique will also have to patch together his attack without Pedro Rodriguez, who transferred to Chelsea this week.

Barcelona lost 5-1 on aggregate to Bilbao in the Spanish Super Cup last weekend.

This content appears as provided to The Globe by the originating wire service. It has not been edited by Globe staff.

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