David Villa has grabbed the only goal of the match so far, racing onto a magical through ball from Messi to fire in from a couple of yards out. Eric Abidal appeared to have put Barca into a two-goal lead after 38 minutes, with a carbon copy of his midweek goal against Athletic Bilbao in the cup, but he was fractionally offside when Messi threaded yet another cracking pass into the area. He may not be on one of his goalscoring streaks at the moment, but you cannot take your eyes off Lionel Messi for a second.
Deportivo Vs Barcelona: Villa Goal Sends Barca Into Half-Time 1-0 Up
Saw a telling comment on a Spanish website during the match that described Messi in the following fashion: Messi has the finishing skills of Romario, the magic of Maradona, the speed of the original Ronaldo, the through balls of Riquelme and the class of Zinedine Zidane. Can’t argue with that!
Deportivo are yet to trouble Barcelona too much at the back, aside from a half-chance for Adrian, so Miguel Angel Lotina may well look to creative veteran Juan Carlos Valeron at some point in the second half. Apart from David Villas goal and Abidals ruled out effort, the Depor defence has coped admirably with the attacking threat of Barca. The second goal in this match will be crucial, if Barcelona get it, you’d have to say it’s game over.











