Luis Suarez has urged his Barcelona teammates to “take responsibility together” in Lionel Messi’s prolonged absence.
Messi is still a month away from returning to fitness after damaging knee ligaments against Las Palmas in September, and his strike partner believes teamwork is the only way Barca will manage to prosper without him.
“Messi’s irreplaceable [in terms of a single player replacing him]. Without him, we must take responsibility together,” he told TV3.
“Everyone knows what their role within the team is and I know mine; helping my teammates in addition to scoring goals.
“Messi’s the best player in the world and no-one can replace him.
“[Messi, Neymar and I] are always laughing. Neymar already knew his role when he arrived. He respects Leo, like we all do.
“Winning all those trophies was something I dreamed about. It was worth the wait.
“We met our objectives, but you always want to exceed them.
“[On his Barca debut against Real Madrid last October], I was fixated on getting my game right because I knew that lots of people would be watching me very closely.
“Scoring goals make me happy. You have to be selfish but also a good teammate [to be a good striker].
“Nobody has won two consecutive Champions Leagues, so winning two in a row would be amazing, but there’s also the Club World Cup.”
