With Thierry Henry and Samuel Eto'o having been sidelined with injuries and the unsettled Ronaldinho overlooked by Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard, the Spanish club is increasingly turning to its younger players.
Rijkaard's starting line-up during the team's 1-1 draw against city rivals Espanyol last Saturday included six products of the club's youth team while Ronaldinho came on as a 62nd-minute substitute.
It was the first time that the Brazilian playmaker did not start for the club in the Spanish League when available since the 27 year old signed from Paris Saint-Germain in 2003.
Two of the younger players - Lionel Messi and Andres Iniesta - meanwhile joined forces to provide the Catalan club with its only goal of the match.
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Argentine international Messi and Bojan Krkic have risen to prominence following Barcelona's 3-0 win at home over Huelva last month where each player contributed one goal.
It was the first time that Krkic had scored for the Barcelona senior side in front of a home crowd since he joined the squad at the start of the season.
"It's incredible. Three months ago I was in the stands watching like any other fan," he said after the match.
Krkic, whose father is a former Yugoslav international and who has a Spanish mother, has started for Barcelona twice since the match against Huelva.
In October he became Barcelona's youngest-ever goalscorer in a Spanish league match, contributing the only goal in his side's 3-1 defeat away to Villarreal.
Krkic was 17 years and 52 days when he scored the goal, defeating the previous record set by Messi who was 17 years, 10 months and seven days when he scored his first league goal for Barcelona.
Coincidentally it was Messi who supplied Krkic with the pass for the goal to beat his record.
"I know that he is making an impact and I am certain that he will force me into retirement because the kid has everything," said Eto'o.
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