Frank Rijkaard's high-flyers have been battling an injury crisis in recent weeks with Swedish international Henrik Larsson facing a six-month lay-off because of a knee injury.

Now French international midfielder Ludovic Giuly has joined the casualty list and will miss Saturday's home game against Malaga, after picking up a thigh injury in a benefit match in midweek although he should be fit for next week's Champions League trip to Shakhtar Donetsk.

Barca's Xavi Hernandez has praised the contribution of young players from the reserve squad in overcoming Barca's current injury problems.

In particular, Xavi pointed to the efforts of Leo Messi and Damia.

"They've responded very well. We must have confidence in the youngsters from the reserves, many of us started that way," said Hernandez who reassured Barca's followers that the team can overcome their injury setbacks.

"It's true we're having bad luck with injuries," he said. "We haven't got many players available but for the moment we're coping well. We're not worried and Giuly's injury isn't serious.

"We've still got four league games and one Champions League game before Christmas and we have to keep on performing as we have up to now. It's pretty likely they'll be some new arrivals in December which will help us cope with the rest of the season."

Real Madrid lie second behind their bitter rivals and have a tough trip to Villarreal on Sunday.

One of their unsung heroes is Guti who is celebrating his ninth season at the club and is determined to snatch the spotlight away from Real's legion of foreign imports.

"I have always fought and I have always wanted to stay at the club and it has been that work has made me stay nine years here," said Guti.

Espanyol, in third place and nine points behind Barca, go to Real Zaragoza boosted by news that Cameroon international goalkeeper Carlos Idriss Kameni is fit to play despite early fears that he had broken a leg.

A medical examination showed that the injury was not as serious as first feared.

Fourth place Valencia, meanwhile, are 11 points behind the leaders and go to Albacete on Saturday with defender Amedeo Carboni claiming that despite the stuttering form of Claudio Ranieri's side, the team are one of the best in the country.

"If we compare our squad with others, I believe Valencia is one of the best in Spain," he said.

FIXTURES
Saturday: Albacete v Valencia, Barcelona v Malaga, Real Sociedad v Real Betis
Sunday: Atletico Madrid v Osasuna, Levante v Getafe, Real Mallorca v Numancia, Racing Santander v Deportivo La Coruna, Real Zaragoza v Espanyol, Sevilla v Athletic Bilbao, Villarreal v Real Madrid