MADRID (AFP) - Barcelona is "looking for excuses" to sell their under-performing Brazilian ace Ronaldinho at the end of the season, the Spanish club's former midfielder Rivaldo said Thursday.

"For me it is sad to see a club do this with a player. They are turning people's opinion against him and this shows that they want to sell him and are looking for excuses to do so," the AEK Athens player told radio Ona FM.

"It is like a father who is against his son. A father must always look for the best thing for his children," added former Brazilian international Rivaldo.

Spanish media has reported that Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard has grown tired of Ronaldinho's frequent late nights out and is not counting on him for the rest of the season.

Ronaldinho has missed Barcelona's last four Spanish league matches and only returned to training with the rest of his teammates on Wednesday.

According to Rijkaard, the 28-year-old former World Player of the Year has complained of muscle "discomforts" in his right leg and has been absent for this reason.

But a report from the Catalan club's medical staff, published on March 17 on Barcelona's website, said scans found he had "neither a tendon nor muscular injury".

Rivaldo, who helped lead Brazil to the 2002 World Cup title, played for Barcelona between 1997 and 2002.