Barcelona club said on Thursday that their star forward Ronaldinho will be rested for the second straight game in Friday's match with Villarreal.

This move was aimed to enable the Brazilian to be fresh for the Champions League semi-final with AC Milan, according to the club.

Ronaldinho had been out of last week's 2-2 draw against Racing Santander due to a leg muscle strain in the quarter-final win over Benfica.

Barca will also be without midfielder Thiago Motta and Argentine forward Lionel Messi because of injury.

Source: Xinhua