The Spanish international broke his leg in the Club World Cup four months ago and has not featured for the Spanish champions since.

He posted a picture on his Twitter account climbing La Mola mountain near Barcelona on Thursday.

The 30-year-old is targeting a return at the UEFA Champions League Final, should Barcelona reach it, on May 19th.

He may even be in contention for a place in the Spain team to travel to the Ukraine and Poland for Euro 2012.

Villa said on Twitter: "The leg is getting better all the time. We are in line with the timetable set out."

Barcelona are four points behind rivals Real Madrid in the search for the La Liga title, with the teams still to play each other on April 21st.