Neymar could play as a striker says Luis Enrique

Neymar has played up top for his country

Barcelona manager Luis Enrique has said that he is open to the idea of playing Brazillian captain Neymar as a centre forward in the coming weeks in the absence of superstar Lionel Messi. Enrique, however, said that he did not want any player to try and replace Messi, but play football exactly they way the usually play.

Neymar who plays upfront for his country in some games has an astonishing record for the Selecao scoring 46 goals in just 64 matches. In the absence of Lionel Messi, the 23-year-old could be the answer to Barcelona’s prayers.

“We are aware that Neymar has played as a centre forward for Brazil in the past, and that is something that we may look at. But we don’t want him or Luis Suarez to replace anyone,” the 45-year-old said ahead of the UEFA Champions League match against Bayer Leverkusen.

Barcelona, who drew their first match of the European campaign against AS Roma in Italy, have to win the match to kick start the defense of the trophy they won for the fifth time last season. Enrique is not taking the German team lightly stating, “They are a team who play with high intensity, they defend well and are good at applying pressure. They are strong physically and will cause us problems. We’ll need to play well.”

“He gives Leverkusen other attacking options. He’s a great goal scorer and has great ability, he’s also a fighter,” Enrique replied when asked about former Manchester United striker Javier Hernandez. Chicharito, as he is fondly called, joined the 2002 Champions League finalists in August and scored a goal in his very first Champions League match in a 4-1 win over BATE Borisov

Barcelona haven't been in the best of form this season after reaching the highs in Enrique’s first season by winning the treble of La Liga, UEFA Champions League and Copa del Rey. The Spanish Champions have won two, drawn one and lost one in their last four matches in all competitions and even their performances haven't been “effective”.

“It’s true that our current form is not the most effective, but we have no doubts about the way we should play. Against Leverkusen, the idea is to play our best possible game with resources available to us,” concluded the Spanish manager.

Barcelona did, however, receive some good news as Messi might make an early return from injury. It was earlier reported that Messi might be out for eight weeks but Argentine doctor Donato Villani said that Messi would return sooner than expected date.