Ronaldinho has been left out of the Barcelona squad to visit Valencia for their Copa del Rey semi-final second leg.

The Brazil forward missed the 2-2 draw away to Almeria in the league on Sunday, with coach Frank Rijkaard saying the player was injured.

After a scan on an adductor muscle in his right leg, the club's medical services said there was no evidence of an injury to the muscle or tendon and that Ronaldinho was suffering from "medical problems".

He returned to train with the rest of the team on Wednesday morning but failed to make the squad.

Team-mate Andres Iniesta, meanwhile, refuted claims that he missed the Almeria match and subsequent training sessions as punishment for a midweek night out.

"He has a few niggles," the Spain midfielder explained to Marca. "Everyone reacts to pain differently and I don't know what's going on in his body but if he's hurt then he's hurt.

"There is no player who does not love playing, especially someone as important as Ronaldinho."

Yaya Toure and Gianluca Zambrotta returned to the side. Lionel Mesi, Deco, Rafael Marquez and Giovani dos Santos are injured.

Barca enter the game at the Mestalla with the scores level at 1-1 from the first leg.

Reuters