Barcelona boss Ronald Koeman has called on his attackers to share the goal scoring burden with skipper Lionel Messi in the coming weeks.
His side face a crucial La Liga clash against rivals Sevilla this weekend, with Messi in red hot form on the back of netting 13 goals in his 13 appearances in all competitions in 2021.
He is leading the way at the top of the La Liga scoring charts with 18 goals from 20 starts, but Koeman wants to see more from his other stars as the campaign enters a make or break phase.
“He (Messi) can’t always do it alone. Messi has 18 goals,” he told a pre match press conference with Marca.
“The other attackers, together, have the same number, he needs help.
“You don’t always have to ask the best or the most experienced players to make the difference. The responsibility has to be from the whole team, not just the experienced players.”
Messi has played the bulk of his matches this season as part of an attacking trio alongside Antoine Griezmann and Ousmane Dembele.
However, the French pair are falling way short of Messi’s high standards, with six and two league goals respectively.
Dutch international Frenkie De Jong is third behind Griezmann, in Koeman’s current options, with the former Ajax midfielder scoring three league goals this season.
Teenage star Ansu Fati could hold the key to a regular foil to Messi, with the 18-year old scoring four league goals prior to suffering a serious knee injury at the back end of 2020.
Messi should live Barca I see the management are not ready to buy players