According to Barça president Joan Laporta, Ronaldinho “won’t play against Zaragoza or on Saturday in Valencia against Levante, but he has said that he will be there for the game in Stuttgart on October 2nd”.

It seems that Ronnie’s injury is genuine, and it has been claimed that the injury was picked up while playing for Brazil two weeks ago and this was aggravated in the games against Osasuna and Lyon. If this is true it would explain why he was substituted in both matches.

Team-mates have defended the Brazilian over rumours that he was out clubbing 48 hours before the Osasuna game. Victor Valdés said that a players private life is his own business, and Zambrotta claimed that it is not a problem to go out two days before a game if it’s just to have one drink and not to get drunk.

I happen to agree with Zambrotta on this one. Professional footballers are human beings and they sometimes need to go out and relax just like anyone else. Having said that they need to be responsible and make sacrifices if they are to earn the astronomical figures that they do.

Every time there are rumours of problems with one of Barça’s star players, they are immediately followed by stories in the press of impending transfers to Chelsea or Milan. While I’m sure that Abramovic or Berlusconi would love to sign Ronaldinho, you really have to take these stories with a pinch of salt. Personally, I find so many rumours to be just a little bit boring.