Barcelona 2-2 Deportivo La Coruna: 5 Talking points

Barcelona were held to an infuriating draw by Deportivo La Coruna at Nou Camp. The spoils were shared on Saturday night, with a comfortable two goal lead surrendered by the Catalan giants in the final thirteen minutes of normal time. Goals from Lionel Messi and Ivan Rakitic had given them the lead but Lucas and Bergantinos scored in the gap of ten minutes to ensure their team at least win a point.The result still leaves Barcelona at the helm of La Liga, with Atletico Madrid breathing down their neck. Atletico have a chance to go level on points with Barcelona when they host Athletico Bilbao on Sunday. Meanwhile, Deportivo sustained their impressive recent run of form, having lost only once in their last 12 league outings. Here are five talking points from the game.

#1 Barcelona insisted on looking for that perfect goal

Iniesta trying to ease past the defenders

Barcelona had 69 percent of the possession yesterday night, with their midfield and forwards passing it around the box in silky fashion, eyeing that perfect goal. With a shut-out defence, Barcelona failed numerous times in their attempts to get into the box.

Both the goals from Catalans were not the perfect goals they are renowned for. In the build-up to those goals, there were no slick one-two passes, no back heels, and no wondrous visionary through-balls. And that ideology to look for perfection restricted their score line to just two goals.

The mighty attacking prowess of Barcelona could yield only seven shots on target yesterday. They hesitated to take their chances and shoot and instead they passed around in the final third and resisted the pressing of Deportivo defenders. The result would at least remind Barcelona and Luis Enrique that goals coming in any manner are still goals.

#2 Defensive weakness leaves Barcelona disappointed

A leaky defence caused the Catalans to drop points

Their defensive weakness was an obvious weakness hiding behind Barcelona’s performance. This fixture was supposed to be a routine win for the Catalans, if not an emphatic thumping. Yet they showed an unbelievable lack of composure to allow Deportivo to score twice.

Defender Mathieu, five minutes into his introduction to the pitch, failed head the ball away, only for Cardoso to pass it to Lucas for the first goal for the touring team. The second goal came after the loss of possession in the middle of the park by Busquets. It has to be considered that Barcelona’s defence has had a torrid time throughout the season, it was only their mighty attack that protected them.

When their defenders make those darting runs going forward, they need to be given due credit. In the meantime though, they left wide spaces open for Deportivo to counter in numbers. It was evident when Jordi Alba was caught upfront in the first half, leading to a great scoring opportunity for Deportivo.

Pique and Mathieu had poor positioning with the latter completely deceived by the likes of Juanfran and Lucas. Apart from Dani Alves, all the other defenders failed to put up a show worth their stardom and Barcelona have got to keep it tight at the back, if they have to repeat their triumph of last season.

#3 Barcelona miss Neymar

The in-form Brazilian is currently sidelined due to injury

It is the most obvious conclusion from yesterday. Yes, Barcelona missed the vigour and effervescence of the Brazilian who was left out of the squad due to a groin strain he picked up during training. His replacement, Sandro Ramirez had a mediocre game with his best effort coming in the first-half when he set up Suarez instead of going for glory himself. He was later replaced by Munir El Haddadi.

Neymar was one of the prime reasons for Barcelona’s success last season, and has also been brilliant in the current season. With Messi injured for three months, Neymar inherited the sceptre, and did rise up to the stature, even if only until the return of Messi. He scored with ease and showed great generosity in providing assists when he could have improved his goal tally.

The flowing chemistry in the final third is unique with Neymar. But in his absence, it is almost like a spectacle without the trickery and flamboyance that makes everyone fall in love with Barcelona.

#4 Deportivo are the surprise package of this season

Deportivo fought resolutely against Barcelona, just like they do against every team

Deportivo managed to replicate the result of this fixture from last season and proved that their impressive run in the league is not a fluke. Victor Sanchez’s men have lost only once in last twelve La Liga games, highlighted by draws against Valencia, Atletico Madrid and Barcelona. Like they showed yesterday, they are a resilient bunch and have shown great character in salvaging a draw in games they should generally be losing.

The attacking players of Deportivo scored twice against Barcelona, both coming after good team moves. It always take a mammoth effort to beat the Barcelona defence and certainly the determination of Deportivo has to be applauded as they are the only team, except Rayo Vallecano, to score twice against the La Liga champions this season at the Camp Nou.

They are validating their strong performances as not just mere luck, but the result of the grit, guts and gumption they apply to their game. Deportivo defended resolutely, attacked briskly, and showed patience throughout the game to win a most unlikely point.

#5 Lionel Messi loves playing against Deportivo

Messi scoring a gem of a free-kick against Deportivo

Well, almost all teams are Lionel Messi's favourite opposition but Messi has a liking for Deportivo when it comes to scoring goals. Messi improved his record against Deportivo when his outstanding freekick whisked past Lux. The Argentine captain has now scored 12 goals against Deportivo since making his debut.

The ‘otherwise’ strong defence was deceived all over by Messi’s brilliance, the pick of it being the unbeatable free-kick before he slid in Iniesta with a awe-inspiring pass, which was a sheer piece of footballing intelligence.

Deportivo definitely improved, but they did not have any answers for Messi. He made more successful passes and take-ons than in his previous encounters against them showing that he is just getting better. The Galicians have conceded more goals from Messi than any other player and the run doesn't look like stopping anytime soon.