After the declarations made by Yaya Touré and his agent, Dimitri Seluk recently, a small concern was raised yesterday after the midfielder was not listed in the starting line-up again nor was he used as a substitute.

There is a very good chance Pep Guardiola might want to reserve him for the match against Kiev this Wednesday.

According to Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo, to avert any more unfounded suggestions by Yaya’s agent, Barcelona’s Technical Secretary, Txiki Begiristain, yesterday released a statement that voiced his dissatisfaction with his actions.

“The most important thing (we need to think of here) is Touré himself. I am satisfied with his performance, and of the dialogue between the coach and the player. They are the ones who should decide on this matter. It is kind of surprising listening to the agent’s interviews, he should have understood everything.”

Today Barcelona forward Lionel Messi (22) received the award for the best player in the world. Messi received the Golden Ball (Ballon d’Or) at the hands of Denis Chaumier, director of France Football. The TV show “Telefoot” broadcasted the ceremony live on the French channel TF1. “I dedicate the Golden Ball to my teammates. I share this trophy with them. And I’m very happy to be the first Argentine player and also the first Barcelona academy player to receive this award,” Messi said when receiving the trophy.

Accompanied by his brothers, Matias and Rodrigo and his sister Maria Sol, Messi enjoyed the best images from his career as well as a review of the ten classified in the voting this year, in which Messi got 98.5% of the votes, becoming the most voted player in history. FC Barcelona president Joan Laporta was also in the ceremony to congratulate the player.

Catalan newspaper El Mundo Deportivo reports that Manchester City forward and Brazilian international Robinho (25) is determined to succeed in the English Premier League and is not thinking about signing for Barcelona during January. “I came to England to win and prove my quality. I think it is possible and I don’t even want to talk about my future,” Robinho said to English media.

“I have a contract with Manchester City and now my mission is to work hard and help the club,” the former Real Madrid player added. The Brazilian made clear he still dreams that the Manchester City fans see the best of Robinho on the field and said: “I will not fail in this venture.” Speaking of his relationship with Manchester City coach Mark Hughes, who was always against the idea of letting Robinho go during winter market, the Brazilian forward explained: “I have spoken with Mark Hughes and he has no problem with me, quite the contrary, he is glad because I return after an injury.”

It was another hard won victory that came late in the match. Nonetheless a Guardiola’s promise kept. Disappointed with the team’s showing in Jerez, the Barcelona coach said he preferred his charges win while at the same time maintain their beautiful game. And it was.

The Barcelona’s goals came courtesy of a brace from the new ‘Ballon d’Or’, the Argentine Messi (min. 27 and 79), before Ibrahimovic killed the game off (min. 88). Deportivo la Coruna got their consolation goal through Adrian (min. 39).

As always we compiled first reactions from the top 4 Spanish sports newspaper to last night’s match.

Sport

‘The Champion showed its authority’

The Catalan sports paper starts off by referring to last weekend’s hard won match, “With the nightmarish though victorious Chapín match still fresh in their mind, Barca entered the Estadio Riazor pitch with their best eleven, including the return of the deadly strike partnership of Messi and Ibrahimovic. Unlike the calculated approach they employed in a lot of their matches lately, this time Guardiola’s men went for the kill from the kick off”.

“Acknowledging that Deportivo la Coruna is not an easy undertaking, the Barcelona players set out to stifle the Galician side from the start and quickly took possession of the match”.

“With Iniesta lacking pace, it was Messi who has to take up the responsibility of being the most destabilising player up front, an indication that he wants to make his mark on the match, and one which he accomplished”.

“For twenty minutes, Lotina’s men did not even manage to get pass the middle of the pitch. Such was the Blaugrana’s domination that it seems the match was taking place at the Camp Nou”.

“In the 26th minute, Lionel Messi unlocked the Riazor defence to score his first away goal since September 22 when the team trashed Racing Santander 1-4”.

“Although it seems there was only one team on the pitch, in a rare isolated move, Deportivo managed to tie the match in a rather unfortunate circumstance for Barcelona. Busquets unwittingly back-flicked a long-range Aranzubia’s goal clearance that put Adrian through on goal seven minutes before the break. It was a blow for the Catalan side, one that resembled events that led to the draw against Osasuna and Athletic Bilbao”.

“The second half began with Barcelona just as willing as in the first. The difference however was that of Deportivo’s game-plan – it devoted itself to maintaining the status quo by packing its defence”.

“The match entered a kind of boring phase. As much as Barcelona tried, they were not generating any real threat, and that forced Guardiola to make the changes.  Substituting Henry for Pedro in the 70th minute, the Canary-born player contributed more in five minutes than the Frenchman did in his entire match”.

“He was barely on the pitch for twelve minutes when he put in an exquisite inch-perfect cross for Messi to head in, one that is reminiscent of his Rome (Champions League final) goal. The Argentine was the lead character in the match and returned as the indisputable leader in the best team in Europe, and in a few months time, probably the world. And it did not end there”.

“In the following attacking move, Barcelona killed the game off through an Ibrahimovic’s strike off an Eric Abidal’s low cross. The Swede marked his tenth goal to go level with Valencia’s David Villa as contenders for the ‘Pichichi’ award”.

“The champion vindicated itself on one of the toughest venues of the Primera Division, the small fort of Riazor, where before Barcelona only one other team had managed to win there. With this victory Barcelona now has 36 points and is well on its way to end the year on a right note”.

“Later, the team will travel to Abu Dhabi where should it captures the Club World Cup would have won six titles in one season. Incredible!” the paper finally said.

El Mundo Deportivo

‘1-3: Barca finishes Depor with a brace from Messi’

“His words are always revealing and in the Deportivo’s pre-match press conference he assured everyone that Barcelona will play better than they did against Xerez”, the other Catalan sports paper reminisce.

“Despite beating the bottom club, he was not satisfied and demanded more of his men, and the team responded like they always did”.

“The match started off with pace and intentions but no clear chances. Barcelona who fielded a very strong line-up gradually imposed its game and Deportivo barely got a sniff of the ball. The crux of these early moves was the pairing of Iniesta and Xavi in midfield, finally together again running the show, at the expense of Keita”.

“Barcelona early domination was lacking a goal before ‘Ballon d’Or’ winner Messi resolved that injustice. Turning at the speed of light, he hooked a low shot for the match opener (0-1, min. 26). A deserved lead for Barcelona for their early supremacy, the best they had away from home this season”.

“Against the run of play however, a long ball served out by Aranzubia, was flicked by Busquets onto the path of Adrian, who beat Valdes to open the Galician’s account (1-1, min. 38)”.

“The duel changed face in the second half. The fluidity disappeared giving way to a less lucid game with very few shots on goal. Barcelona maintained their control, but was unable to get in gear and dislodge Lotina’s men like they did earlier. The Blaugrana hit a wall and their intensity dropped. The match was taking a dangerous turn for the Catalan side.

“With ten minutes left, Messi came to the rescue with his second, a day before he was to pick up the ‘Ballon d’Or’, latching onto a beautiful cross from Pedro, who replaced Henry (1-2, min. 80)”.

“From then on, it was all Barcelona with the match finally decided by Ibrahimovic. His first-time strike ended the Galician fight (1-3, min. 88)”.

“Messi was reinvented, and he continues to add to his outstanding resume by scoring two vital goals, while Ibra’s screamer settled the match that validated their status as the champion”.

“Barcelona already holding a solid lead at the head of the table, wins out again, and did it on a very tough venue, brushing aside the pressure put on them by Madrid. A perfect week: 9 points out of 9 in the League”, El Mundo Deportivo finally surmised.

Marca

‘Messi rescues a deserved victory’

“A fair result for Barcelona but one they had to work hard for against a Deportivo side that gave their all but were not able to prevent the Blaugrana storm”, the Madrid sports paper opens up.

“Barcelona deserved the win especially for their first half performance, even though they found it difficult to break the perfect Galician defensive system”.

“Messi put Barcelona ahead, but Adrian grabbed a surprise equalizer before the break. Messi’s header and Ibrahimovic’s strike in the final stretch gave Pep’s team the victory”.

The good – Lionel Messi

“The new ‘Ballon d’Or’ celebrated the honour given to him by scoring two goals with one reminiscent of the headed goal he scored in the Champions League final, gave his team the victory when it seemed that everything would end in a draw”.

The bad – Thierry Henry

“He was barely involved in the game and failed to get pass Manuel Pablo, not even once, only to be eventually replaced by Pedrito”.

The three key points of the match are:

Whoever wants it the most gets it. “Barcelona pursued the winning goal/s and ended up by achieving it in the final stretch”.

Deportivo’s defensive line. “Led by Aranzubia and Manuel Pablo, they withstood everything that Barcelona threw at them, especially in the first half”.

Peter, Ibrahimovic and especially Messi. “The first showed why he should be selected ahead of Henry, the second is on a roll and the third showed why he is the ‘Ballon d’Or’”.

AS

‘Messi brings out the Golden Ball shine’

“Barcelona won in Riazor after four seasons. Guardiola’s men won a game they could have resolved in the first half in which their dominance was overwhelming, both in possession as well as in chances. Messi opened the scoring near the half hour mark, but Deportivo managed to equalize before the break through Adrian via a combination of unfortunate events. After the break, the home team move into a higher gear and made their Catalan rival uncomfortable. When it seemed that Barcelona could leave two points in the Riazor, Messi made a reappearance to score his second off Pedro’s cross. Ibrahimovic then settled the contest with two minutes left on the clock”, summarised the ultra-Real sports paper.

“The league leaders landed in La Coruna aware of the difficult task that lay ahead. The reason, a Lotina’s Deportivo side that is currently flying high in the league – a Europa-qualifying fifth place – and could register their best start in league history with another win. Guardiola realised this and included all of the big guns in his starting line-up. Lotina, for his part, was also not prepared to make any concessions, fielded his best eleven”.

“Barcelona began in a determined mood, choking Deportivo with a mastery of ball skills. The early pressure placed by the Blaugrana team ensured that they control three-quarters of the pitch and was able to recover loose ball quickly”.

“The possession and initiative was the domain of the Catalan side while Deportivo retreated back trying to avoid leaving spaces, with Lotina effectively employing a defensive system of two lines of four players and lying in wait to make surprise counterattacks”.

“As the minutes passed, the Catalans began to threaten Aranzubia’s goal more. Gradually, the game became so one-sided in favour of Barcelona with Deportivo only managing to defend like a scalded cat and unable to complete any two consecutive passes. It was only a matter of time before the visitor opened the scoring. And it did, a few minutes before the half hour mark through a powerful Messi strike that Aranzubia could do nothing about”.

“Ibrahimovic had the opportunity to kill the game off ten minutes later but failed to beat Aranzubia in a one-on-one situation. Barcelona was in charge and Deportivo seemed asleep, but football is a football”.

“Against all odds and in an ‘express’ move, the home side brought cheers to the Riazor stands with the equalising goal. A quick Aranzubia’s goal kick forced a bad clearance by Busquets that fell onto the path of Adrián. Taking advantage of that momentum, the Galicians began using their flanks to push further up”.

“After the intermission, the script changed. Deportivo picked up their pace and discarded their first half game-plan of letting Barcelona have all the initiative. The home side radically changed its strategy and started to pressure more. This forced Guardiola’s men to lift their game to neutralize the Galicians’ momentum”.

“It was clear that the leader was not comfortable with Messi disappearing in the match and it was noticeable on the team’s performance. With twenty minutes left on the clock, Guardiola decided to freshen up his team by introducing Pedro to replace a worn-out Henry”.

“The victory was difficult in coming but this is the team that has the 2009 ‘Ballon d’Or’ in its rank. In a piece  of stellar reincarnation, Messi got the second Barcelona goal ten minutes from the end with a header off a pass from Pedro, a player who has grown in stature with every game and who is poised to be one of the Blaugrana’s heavy-weights in the future”.

“That goal wiped out the nerves gripping the visitors and Barcelona knew the three points are theirs. Deportivo pushed for the draw only to be punished by Ibrahimovic with a late goal that settled the contest”, the Madrid based paper concludes its article.

In last night’s post-match press conference held at the Estadio Riazor, Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola said the team has regained their game back by overcoming Deportivo on their own home turf (1-3) but was a bit disappointed that it took late goals from Messi and Ibrahimovic to kill the match off: “We have recovered (the essence) of who we are, but fail to capitalise on it in the first half. 1-1 at the break was not a fair reflection of our effort. We continued with our game in the second half, and I am very satisfied with the team’s performance and of course, the result.”

“Deportivo closed the spaces well. With the inclusion of Pedro, we try to create more openings, to open up the game more, and although we were not much more better than we were in the first half, we did managed to dominate the match. And this is a difficult venue to get a win, which is why I gave a lot of significance to this win,” explaining his decision to substitute Henry.

Impressed with the home side, Pep gave them their due credit: “Deportivo is a well organised team, and they knew what to expect from us. I guess (Deportivo’s forwards) Riki and Lassad were well prepared in advance, and everyone can see that as a unit, they are a very good. And with a coach who has the full confidence of his president, suggests to me, they really are going for the win tonight,” adding, “Filipe is a very good player, and so too are Guardado and Manuel Pablo… Deportivo is very good structurely, so it is no coincidence that they are up there in the standings.”

Finally, asked about the upcoming Champions League match against Dynamo Kiev this Wednesday, Guardiola said, “It is one the most important match this year as it will determine our season, but I am pretty confident.”