Barcelona vs. Deportivo La Coruna: Score, Grades and Reaction from La Liga
Xavi Hernandez made his final La Liga bow at the Camp Nou in somewhat tame style, as La Liga champions Barcelona were held to a 2-2 draw by Deportivo La Coruna. The stalemate ensured Deportivo beat relegation after a heroic comeback against a Barca team clearly more focused on the upcoming Copa del Rey and UEFA Champions League finals.
Xavi, who will move to Qatar side Al Sadd in the summer, per Goal's Ben Hayward, was drawing the curtain on a glittering career in Spain's top flight. The cerebral playmaker has turned steady possession into an art form as the irrepressible metronome of Barca's and the Spanish national team's famed tiki-taka style.
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Fittingly, Barcelona's famous stadium was suitably decked out to show appreciation and respect for the club's peerless, pocket-edition pass master. Spanish football writer Sergi Dominguez captured this particularly impressive image:
Barca boss Luis Enrique surrounded his graybeard schemer with a mix-and-match squad after making nine changes and leaving the likes of Ivan Rakitic and Sergio Busquets out. Included in the refreshed group were young talents such as Rafinha and Sergi Roberto, a potential heir apparent to Xavi's throne.
There was also a very rare sighting of fragile former Arsenal centre-back Thomas Vermaelen. The Belgian defender made his first appearance this season for his new club.
As for Depor, desperate manager Victor Sanchez opted for a pragmatic formula to try and give his team a slim chance of at least securing a precious point. La Coruna aligned in a deep-sitting 4-5-1 formation.
While it made things tougher than expected for Barca, the miserly structure also meant Deportivo couldn't build possession enough to even strike on the counter. Centre-forward Lucas was a particularly isolated figure early on.
But Lucas did pounce on a very rare opportunity in the second half. Depor needed to be more adventurous considering results elsewhere were going against them. Eibar dealt what looked potentially like a dagger blow with an unexpected explosion of attacking football that resulted in a 3-0 half-time lead.
Astonishingly though, Deportivo soon equalised amid a scramble following a free kick. The two-goal swing was a rarity for a Barcelona team that's been incredibly stingy in the league, per WhoScored.com:
With the point they needed in their hands, Depor resorted to defensive spoiling tactics, doing everything they could to run down time.
Player Grades
Lionel Messi: A+
Not at all unpredictably, Messi was yet again the star of the show for Barcelona. The matchbox-sized maestro opened the scoring with a bullet header at the far post. He soon had a second ruled out due to a disputed offside call. Eventually, Messi netted his second after being selflessly teed up by fellow forward Neymar Jr.
Hayward found an apt image to perfectly sum up what Messi means for the Camp Nou outfit:
Despite one goal being taken away from him, Messi remained a thorn at every level of the Depor defence. His movement was fantastic, typically more expansive, as it has been under Enrique's watch.
In the absence of Luis Suarez, Messi was afforded his traditional and generally more preferred central starting position. But as he's done most of this season, the Argentinian marvel also drifted to the right, as well as continuing to show a penchant for dropping into pockets of space in the middle and playing provider.
His passing was typically astute between the lines from those positions. Meanwhile, his trademark weaving runs in advanced areas wowed the crowd and gave Deportivo defenders fits.
Fabricio: B
La Coruna had overworked stopper Fabricio to thank for Barca not being out of sight by half time. The 27-year-old Spanish goalkeeper made two wonderful saves to deny Messi inside the first 20 minutes.
He also turned away the precocious Rafinha. Any keeper travelling to the Camp Nou knows he's going to be busy, but Deportivo's rigid and ultra-defensive team structure offered him almost no reprieve at all.
With possession willingly ceded, Fabricio frequently witnessed numerous runners in Barca shirts marauding in and around the box and bearing down on his goal. In this context, his frequent efforts to frustrate the La Liga champions were nothing short of heroic.
Fabricio has been courting interest from England's Premier League. A report earlier this month from Spanish publication Mundo Deportivo (h/t talkSport.com) stated that Aston Villa and Everton are both keen.
Fabricio certainly did himself plenty of favours impressing interested parties with this performance.
Xavi: A
Not wanting to waste his last appearance in Spain's top flight, Xavi was typically unerring in possession. Squawka Football detailed his accuracy:
As the brain of the team, Xavi never stopped probing for openings. He consistently guided passes through and over the Depor defence, hoping to free forward runners.
A precisely lofted ball over the top nearly gave Rafinha a tap in at the start of the second half. Only cat-quick anticipation from Fabricio prevented the goal the smart pass deserved.
A delicate chip or two unfortunately couldn't claim Xavi a farewell goal. In fairness, though, scoring has never been his forte. It certainly won't be what the mercurial pass machine is remembered for.
When he was substituted with just over five minutes of normal time remaining, the captain for the day received a heartfelt and deserved ovation.
His final numbers offer a snapshot of the efficient brilliance that's defined his career:
Ultimately, Xavi has bowed out a champion. Meanwhile, Depor hung on by fingernails, sending Eibar down in the process.
Reaction
Xavi declared Barcelona the best in the world during the presentation of the team's league title, per the club's official Twitter feed:
But as if to emphasise the professionalism and dedication to winning that's made him one of the game's true greats, the 35-year-old kept the focus on the remaining goals of Barca's superb season:
Having one eye on the treble was a common theme of the post-match comments. Andres Iniesta, who replaced Xavi late on, further highlighted the point:
Enrique also expressed his confidence about treating the fans to another major trophy celebration:
Maybe the best is yet to come for Barcelona. But for now, Xavi gets to celebrate an eighth league crown as his highly decorated, near three-decade stay at the club draws to a fitting close.
