Deportivo La Coruna vs. Barcelona: Winners and Losers from La Liga Game
Lionel Messi grabbed another hat-trick to add to his vast collection as Barcelona cruised to a 4-0 victory against Deportivo La Coruna on Sunday.
Messi scored twice in the first half and again shortly after the break to seal the win for his team, before Sidnei's unfortunate late own goal rounded off the goalscoring. The result means Barcelona are back within a point of Real Madrid at the top of La Liga—who won earlier in the day against Getafe—albeit having played a game more than their famous rivals.
Click on for some winners and losers from the game at Riazor.
Winner: Lionel Messi
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The negative headlines and pernicious speculation of the week after last already seems a world a way. Messi was at his familiar best during this game, torturing a Depor defence that had no real idea how to play him as Barca romped to a comfortable victory.
Returned to the left-sided starting position that he has dominated from for much of his career, Messi looked extremely comfortable from the off. It took him just 11 minutes to break the deadlock, running into the box to meet Ivan Rakitic's deep cross for a rare headed strike. Twenty minutes later, it was 2-0, as Messi this time profited on good work from Neymar (and, to a lesser extent, Luis Suarez) to control the ball and flick it nonchalantly over the stranded goalkeeper Fabricio.
The Argentinian had to wait until after half-time to complete his hat-trick, but it was another sumptuous strike. Taking back the ball from Rakitic after a short corner, Messi eased into the box and shifted the ball onto his left foot, firing a low drive that was never going anywhere but the bottom corner.
All three goals were reminiscent of some of Messi's greatest hits (the first like his opener against Manchester United in the 2009 Champions League final, his second a similar finish to one he produced against Arsenal in the competition, and the third...well, like many, many of his goals), helping to engineer the feeling that he is back to his best after a problematic few weeks.
"[Messi] has been at an extremely high level all season," manager Luis Enrique said afterwards, per Ben Hayward of Goal.com, not entirely convincingly. "His form hasn't dropped at any point. He has been like a global star."
Brilliant against Atletico Madrid, this was his second top performance in succession—and as a result, the mood around the Barca camp will surely be very upbeat heading into the rest of the month.
Loser: Luis Suarez
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While Messi was humming along at something approaching top gear, his strike partner Luis Suarez was experiencing the opposite sort of afternoon. Nothing seemed to come off for the Uruguayan, who ended the game goalless despite being presented with a number of good chances.
His shooting was all over the place in the first half, as he twice found space inside the box but failed to really test Fabricio in one-on-one situations. Indeed, Messi's second goal summed up Suarez's issues: Neymar's cross was initially meant for the No. 9, but Suarez ended up tripping over his own feet as Messi stepped in and cleaned up the mess.
In the second half, Suarez's difficulties continued, and his frustration was evident. His night was summed up in the final minute after he finally produced a few touches reminiscent of his Liverpool best—the striker weaving between two defenders before scuffing a shot that the goalkeeper was able to save comfortably.
This was undoubtedly an off night—that rare 90 minutes where nothing seems to go right—that all players are going to experience. But it was hard to avoid jumping to the conclusion that Suarez is still finding it difficult to adjust to playing second fiddle to Messi—the same issue the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, David Villa, Alexis Sanchez and others have always had in the past.
Time will tell if he deals with the adjustment better than some of those players did, but if he continues to have games like this, the issue might become moot. With Pedro in form and waiting patiently on the bench, Enrique does not exactly have to look far for an alternative option.
Winner: Luis Enrique
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It seems very much a case of the calm after the storm for Enrique, who named the same lineup for a second successive game and seemed to reap the rewards in the consistency and the cogency of the performance.
After all of the recent speculation, his decision not to rest Messi (instead withdrawing Sergio Busquets, Andres Iniesta and then Neymar as the game wore on) will hardly do anything to quieten suggestions he is losing a battle for power with his star player. But while the Argentinian continues to play like this, perhaps it is a battle worth losing in the context of the bigger war.
He may only be another defeat away from crisis, but for now, he has a settled team playing some impressive all-round football once again. They face Atletico Madrid in the Copa del Rey in midweek: Win that tie and suddenly things are not looking too bad at all for the under-pressure coach.
Loser: Deportivo's Attacking Threat
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It was both cruel and unfortunate that it was Sidnei, one of Deportivo's better players, who scored the own goal that rounded off the scoring on Sunday. The unorthodox defender put in a good shift in his primary role (despite the goals conceded) but really came to life on his occasional forays forward, earning appreciative chants from the crowd as he tried to spark his side to life in the opposition half.
Deportivo's defence may have struggled in this game, but that is understandable considering the attacking threat they were faced with. It is not their defence that is going to be their biggest obstacle to staying up this season—it is the paucity of their threat in attack.
Oriol Riera, signed on loan from Wigan in the hope he could be the answer, looked lost for large parts of this game, while Barcelona old boy Isaac Cuenca did little to make his former side regret his loss as his aimless use of the ball never created danger. Haris Medunjanin and Juan Dominguez showed flashes of inspiration, but they flitted in and out of the game too much for a team that needs them to be consistently useful outlet options.
Goals have been Deportivo's problem all season. This game underlined why—and why it must improve fast if they are to accelerate away from the bottom places.
