Ronaldinho is becoming a major problem (1)

Last week wasn't the best week for Barcelona playmaker Ronaldinho (28). It began in the beginning of the week when the medical staff put out a report stating that the player was not injured, while Ronaldinho didn't play against Almería on Sunday cause he said he didn't feel fit.

Ronaldinho's brother and agent Roberto de Assís reacted to the news on the Catalan radio station station Ona FM saying that he nor his brother had given permission for the publication of the report. On Catalan radio station RAC 1, Roberto went further: "The medical report that was published in the press, was not the one we have seen."

When the rumour spread that the report had been made public under his supervision in an attempt to damage the player, Barcelona president Joan Laporta had to come out and declare that the report was perfectly clear in stating that Ronaldinho didn't have an injury, which does not mean the player couldn't have troubles or be in pain, and that all the fuss around the report was due to the misinterpratation by "twisted minds".

Although Ronaldinho has said on Catalan radio station Ona FM that he wanted to play against Valencia "with or without pain", Barcelona manager Frank Rijkaard decided not to include the Brazilian in the squad considering that one training session was not enough to be ready for the return of the Spanish cup's semi-final.

On Saturday, Ronaldinho was again left out for the yesterday league game against Valladolid because he continued to have troubles with his right foot. At a tense press conference, Rijkaard seemed to drop the player, amongst other things by saying that "this time" Ronaldinho was in good physical shape when he arrived at the training ground.

Barcelona legend Johan Cruijff declared on the offical club television channel Barça TV that players should be able to put themselves over some physical troubles when there are important games to come and trophies at stake.

(this is the first part of this contribution, the second part will be published later today, the third part will be published tomorrow)