Defensive headache for Barca

Barcelona coach Louis van Gaal faces a defensive crisis ahead of Sunday's match at Malaga as he is unable to count on five regular defenders.

The Catalan side will make the trip to the south of Spain without injury victims Fernando Navarro, Phillipe Christanval and Patrik Andersson.

Defensive lynchpin Frank de Boer is also out of the game through suspension while Michael Reiziger is unavailable as he looks to put the finishing touches on a move to Manchester City.

The Dutchman has been in talks with City boss Kevin Keegan this week and it would appear the only sticking point is whether Reiziger goes to Maine Road on a loan deal until the end of the season or signs permanently.

It means Van Gaal has had to construct a make-shift defence with ex-Valencia man Gerard continuing in the backline after an impressive debut in the position against Recreativo de Huelva last weekend.

Gerard is happy with his new role and is relishing the chance to forge a place for himself in the team after spending most of the season on the sidelines.

"He told me that I would play in the centre of defence at 12pm on Sunday when Gabri Garcia and Christanval failed fitness tests," said Gerard.

"He said he had confidence in me and that I had an opportunity that I should take advantage of."

Despite being the first time he played in that position Gerard explained that it did not take a long time to adapt.

"All the trainers that I have had have asked me to defend when necessary if in the centre of the midfield. Claudio Ranieri, Hector Cuper and Jose Manuel Mane were coaches who gave a lot of importance to this role."

"However if I had been told when I came here that I would finish as a central defender I would not have believed it but now I am mad to play, at this moment I would play in goal."

It will be a tough test for the defence against Malaga who have strikers of the quality of Dario Silva and Julio Dely Valdes, and Gerard realises this.

"It is one of the most dangerous forward lines in La Liga, they have shown that they complement each other very well and playing at home Malaga push forward looking for goals."

"But I will do my best, I will look for the ball and be strong and that is all you can do."

The only regular defender on display this Sunday for Barca will be Carles Puyol.

The rest of the backline will also be made up of midfielders with Gabri and Philip Cocu but they have been utilised before at the back by Van Gaal.

Barca are looking to put together three wins for the first time this season and last achieved over a year ago. After wins against Mallorca and Recreativo, Barca have now risen to eighth in the table.

And fit again Gabri has not given up the fight for the league just yet.

"Little by little we have improved and I believe we have shown a higher level of play," he said.

"To win the title there are four or five teams that will fight it out to the end. There is Valencia and Deportivo as well as us who can catch up with the leaders."

"We have to have ambition and not throw in the towel and try and get as high as possible and to do this we need to put in a run of four or five wins to get into a position where we deserve to be."

Mallorca midfielder Kiki Musampa realises the importance of the game for his team who have failed to win in seven matches and are now in 14th place with 19 points.

"In reality the game on Sunday is a game more important than just three points because we are playing a team different."

"For the fans it will be very nice to win but for us it is also very important because we don't want to drop any further."