Lambert: Shaqiri cannot do it on his own, he´s not Messi

Unlike Barcelona with Lionel Messi, Stoke City cannot afford to rely on Xherdan Shaqiri in their Premier League relegation battle, says Paul Lambert.

Messi was once again the star for Barca on Wednesday with two goals at Camp Nou to send Chelsea crashing out of the Champions League.

The Argentine superstar has the most goals and assists for the Catalan giants this season, a stat replicated by Shaqiri at the bet365 Stadium.

Shaqiri has scored seven times and created six for his team-mates this season, finding the back of the net three times in his last five appearances.

That has not been enough to lift Stoke out of the relegation places, though, and Lambert has called on the rest of his squad to step up and ease the burden.

100 – Lionel Messi is the second player in Champions League history to score 100 goals, after Cristiano Ronaldo (117). Milestone. pic.twitter.com/BDFRj9xWPI

— OptaJose (@OptaJose) March 14, 2018

“I don’t think you can be too reliant on one player,” he told a media conference.

“I think it is a difficult thing for that to happen unless you are Lionel Messi or that type of player.

“Xherdan Shaqiri has done well for us but he needs a little bit of help as well.

“We need it from other areas on the pitch, if we get that we are certainly in the game. I think that’s where if everybody chips in with some goals we stand a better chance.”

Stoke face Everton in the Premier League on Saturday looking to climb out of the bottom three, the Potters one point from safety.