Barcelona striker David Villa is on course to returning to first-team action before the end of the season according to the striker.

This comes as a major boost for Barcelona, who could well be fighting against the likes of Real Madrid in the league and Champions League final.

At this moment, they require the services of their full strength squad and David Villa becomes more important at this juncture due to his stature within the team. The forward suffered a tibia fracture while playing for Barcelona in the Club World Cup in Japan.

It was very much feared that he would miss the rest of the season and also the Euro 2012, but he has made remarkable progress to at least play in the final few matches of the season for Barcelona. With Villa back in action, surely the euro 2012 betting markets will make Spain firm favourites again, after they drifted on his injury worries.

David Villa has revealed that he recently went up the La Mola, which is a mountain near Catalonia, along with his teammate Sergio Busquets. Barcelona will be facing Chelsea in the semi-final of the Champions League knowing that they are the favourites to get to the final, which will be held at the Allianz arena this season. They could potentially face Bayern Munich in the final, as the German club won their first leg encounter against Real Madrid 2-1 at the Allianz arena.

“I am very excited and happy. The leg is getting better and I am meeting the deadlines set during the recovery process. All we can do is win our games and wait,” Villa said about his recovery and the ability of Barcelona to win the title this season.

Barcelona currently trail leaders Real Madrid, whom they will be facing during the weekend, by four points. The gap was a significant 10 points at one stage during the season, but Barcelona have done extremely well in recent weeks.