Deportivo La Coruna 2-4 FC Barcelona: 5 Talking Points
Score: Deportivo La Coruna 2-4 FC Barcelona
Goalscorers: Philippe Coutinho 7', Lionel Messi 38' 82' 85'; Lucas Perez 40', Emre Colak 64' .
FC Barcelona wrapped up their 25th La Liga title in fine fashion against the Galicians. Fittingly, Lionel Messi scored a hat-trick for Barcelona in a pulsating game against Deportivo who were relegated with this 4-2 defeat.
Coutinho opened the scoring for the visitors and Leo Messi doubled it after a stunning outside of the boot assist from Luis Suarez. It all pointed to a routine victory for the Catalans but Deportivo were not going without a fight.
Lucas Perez halved the deficit before half-time while Emre Colak equalized for Deportivo in the 64th minute. The hosts were in search of a winner to keep their slender survival hopes alive but Messi had other ideas.
Combining brilliantly with Luis Suarez, he scored two quickfire goals in three minutes to win the game and also nab a well-deserved hat-trick in a title-clinching encounter. On that note, here are the five talking points that emerged from Barcelona's hard-fought 4-2 win over Deportivo La Coruna:
#5 A glimpse into Barcelona's future attacking unit
Ernesto Valverde deployed all four of his big name attackers against Deportivo. Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez were joined by Philippe Coutinho and Ousmane Dembele on the flanks. The two new signings worth over €300 million started together just for the seventh time this season.
The duo combined beautifully in the first half and were a constant threat to the Deportivo defence. It was Dembele who found Coutinho with a neat pass for the first goal which was expertly finished by the Brazilian. This was Dembele's sixth assist of the season - providing two assists each to the other three.
All four attackers were fluid in their movement and looked threatening every time with the ball at their feet. Though the quartet could not repeat their first-half antics after the interval, the first 45 minutes gave a peep into Barcelona's attack in the near future.