Rafael Van der Vaart has admitted that he will be supporting Atletico Madrid just this once as they take on Barcelona this weekend.

Barca take on Madrid's other team on Sunday, and a victory for Los Colchoneros will pave the way for Los Blancos to cut the reigning La Liga champions' lead to just two points.

"First we have to beat Xerez. Once we win, I will become an Atletico fan," Van der Vaart said without skipping a beat. The Dutchman added that La Blaugrana "would not cede many points", but hopes that Atletico can take three off Barca.

Van der Vaart has just returned from time on the sidelines to find Kaka taking his spot on the team. The attacking midfielder, however, is confident that he can carve a new role on the team.

The Netherlands international's birthday is on Thursday, and hopes to celebrate with a win against Xerez.

"I will turn 27 [on Thursday]...how time flies....It would be a very nice birthday gift to play a lot of minutes against Xerez and score a goal. My family lives very near and all of them will attend the match."

Van der Vaart did take time to speak about the state of refereeing in La Liga, saying: "Referees are people who can make mistakes like everyone else. The referees in La Liga are very good."

The Dutchman concluded the interview with his take on next week's Champions League match against Lyon.

"The Champions League is very important. Lyon are not very good in their league, but the Champions League is very different. It is better to play away and then at home. We need to score a goal there."