The Argentine says that the form of Pedro, Alexis Sanchez and David Villa means they can be less reliant on Leo Messi.

“It’s important for the confidence of the players and the team, if all in attack are scoring. The scoring game after game is very important for a player and a team fighting for three competitions,” said Mascherano.

“We cannot always depend on one player, even the best in the world, everyone has to contribute and more so when we are talking about top players like Pedro, Alexis and Villa, who have great qualities."