Barcelona are hiding unprofessional player behaviour with injury stories, a high-ranking official at the club said.

"Look at these gentlemen who aren't working, who aren't doing anything, who haven't played for quite a few weeks," president of the club's economic commission Xavier Sala Martin told Catalan Radio. "Well, they were sidelined by the club some weeks ago.

"Although we are hiding things by saying they are injured, we are trying to isolate these gentlemen from the rest of the squad.

"It is unfair that all the players are being called lazy because of the behaviour of the few who party all the time and only go to 22 training sessions out of 60," he concluded.

The timing of the comments is especially pertinent.

Barcelona are set to face Schalke in the second leg of their Champions League quarter final tonight and the statement appears to be a calculated ploy to take the pressure off under-fire boss Frank Rijkaard, whose team have stuttered in recent months and look set to lose out on the Liga title for a second season running.

While not naming specific individuals, the comments seem to be directed at attacking midfielder Ronaldinho, who was out of action for a month with an undiagnosed leg problem before he was ruled out for the season immediately after his return.

The Brazilian has not been at his most effective for the past two seasons, and earlier in the campaign respected Spanish newspapers El Pais and La Vanguardia ran reports of late nights and missed training sessions alongside photographs showing the player carrying excess weight.

Furthermore, Brazil-born Portugal midfielder Deco has officially been out since last month with a calf injury.

But he responded to a code of conduct introduced earlier in the season - which explicitly banned partying 48 hours before a match - by stating that he would continue to go out late as long as he was on time for training and team meetings. He also faced accusations about his private life by tabloid newspaper the News of the World after Brazil played Portugal in a London friendly last season.

Barcelona take a 1-0 advantage into their home leg against Schalke.

Reda Maher / Eurosport / Reuters