Luis Enrique admits Barcelona do rely on Lionel Messi and it would be 'naive' to claim otherwise.

 

Luis Enrique admits Barcelona are reliant on the form of Lionel Messi to a large extent and it would be 'naive' to think otherwise.

The Barcelona manager fully acknowledges that the consistent form of Messi - who has scored 35 goals in 35 appearances this season - has kept their sometimes turbulent season on course.

They sit a point behind Real Madrid ahead of a midweek fixture list that sees them host Sporting Gijon and their rivals take on Las Palmas.

Messi has guided them out of a tight spot in recent matches, scoring three goals in two games to earn wins over Leganes and Atletico Madrid.

And his influence is certainly not lost on Enrique, who said: 'It would be naive to think that we do not depend on the best player in the world.

'I hope we can depend on him for many more years. I still consider him more of a forward.

'Sometimes he spends more time in midfield to help us in terms of numbers but I don't think it matters if he's spending more time in midfield or up front. What matters is his form.

The key to all of this is to be effective in defence and attack, not only one or the other. We've always spent more time and effort trying to attack than do things defensively.

'I don't talk about what happened after one game or the other. We look at a season as a whole picture. We're not at the end yet.'

With next week's Champions League return leg with Paris Saint-Germain on the horizon - they trail 4-0 from the first leg - Enrique could take the opportunity to rest one or more of Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez.

'It could be the right day to give the trident a break. It could be,' he said.