Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde admits he may not play Lionel Messi today against Real Sociedad.

Barça played a friendly against Mamelodi Sundowns in South Africa in midweek, in which Messi made a brief appearance, despite being rested for the dramatic 5-4 defeat to Levante last weekend.

Valverde plans to leave the star out of Sunday's match, too, meaning he will not now play until at least May 29, when Argentina take on Haiti in a World Cup warm-up.

"He's played a lot of minutes this season and that includes playing with injuries. Now is the moment for him to rest a little," Valverde explained.

"He played for 15 minutes in South Africa for contractual reasons. The idea is that he rests."