Brazil great and former Barcelona striker Rivaldo feels that the Spanish giants must be patient with Lionel Messi’s injuries.

The Argentine star missed a month’s worth action due to a calf injury at the beginning of the season and was taken off in Barcelona’s tie against Villarreal due to a fresh injury.

Messi is expected to be out for about 10 days due to a thigh injury. But Rivaldo believes he must not be rushed back.

“As the Argentinian returns from injury, the club need to be careful about not rushing him back,” Rivaldo wrote in his column for Betfair.

“He’s 32 years old and has been playing at the highest level for a while without any rest, so it’s normal to see him starting to feel some pain at times.

“The club needs to let him fully recover so that he doesn’t suffer a recurrence of his injuries right after returning to the team. It doesn’t matter if he misses two, three weeks or a month. When I was in my early-thirties, I thought I would never get injured, or feel pain, but it wasn’t the truth and those kinds of problems started to come.

“Being 32 is not the same as being 25, so you need to manage your fitness better.

“I don’t see this as a sign of decline in Messi, though, as he will come back and have a few more years at the highest level.”