Spanish giants Barcelona have denied they will replace their under-fire Dutch coach Frank Rijkaard at the end of the season.

Barcelona have recently lost ground to arch rivals and league leaders Real Madrid, and now have only the Champions League to play for after being ousted from the Spanish Cup by Valencia.

But despite the growing pressure on Rijkaard, the Catalan club have denied they are lining up his successor.

"FC Barcelona emphatically denies that a decision has been taken to replace the football coach, Frank Rijkaard, for the next season," the club said in a statement lateWednesday.

"The Dutch manager has a contract until the 2009 season and the board of directors has complete confidence in him," it added.

Catalan television TV-3 reported Wednesday that club president Joan Laporta had given the green light for the club's former player Pep Guardiola and the coach of its reserve team to take over from Rijkaard.

On the eve of Barcelona's 1-0 win over Schalke 04 in the Champions League quarterfinal first leg on Tuesday, sports daily Sport reported that Guardiola could step in if the team performed badly at the match.

Rijkaard, 45, has coached FC Barcelona since the 2003-04 season. He led die club to two Spanish league tides in 2005 and 2006 and the Champions League tide in 2006.