Atletico Madrid have been handed a huge injury boost ahead of their Champions League clash with Chelsea.
Diego Simeone's men and the Blues go head-to-head in the first leg of their Round of 16 Champions League on February 23 in Bucharest after Spain's travel ban on UK arrivals forced the fixture to be moved.
The clash in Romania will be Thomas Tuchel's first taste of Champions League football with Chelsea and fans will be excited about that prospect after the German took PSG to the final of last season's competition.
But it will be a big test for Chelsea with Atletico Madrid currently top of La Liga and five points ahead with two games in hand - Simeone's men are undoubtedly favourites to win the title.
Ahead of the Champions League tie, Atletico Madrid looked to have been dealt a huge injury blow when starting centre-back Jose Maria Gimenez was ruled out for up to three weeks with a muscular injury.
But in shock news, the Uruguayan defender has returned to training with his teammates and now looks set to be fit in time to face Chelsea, providing he suffers no setbacks.
It was thought the muscular discomfort suffered by Gimenez might have kept him out for weeks, but having sat out Atletico's 2-1 win over Granada, any discomfort settled down and he is said to have made a 'complete recovery' by AS.
Atelti are back in action on Wednesday when they face Levante away from home, and it's expected Simeone could play it safe with Gimenez for that one given the fixtures his side have coming up.
The Uruguayan could return as Atletico face Levante again in La Liga on Saturday ahead of that all-important Champions League first leg clash with Chelsea the following Tuesday.
Gimenez has made 15 appearances across all competitions for Los Rojiblancos so far this season, missing a fair chunk of action early on in the season due to coronavirus before suffering a thigh injury that kept him out for a further four league games.
