In the Deportivo pre-match press conference today, Barcelona coach, Pep Guardiola assured everone that the team will not repeat their mediocre showing at the Municipal de Chapin against Xerez, despite the 0-2 victory.

“We are not content with just winning. It is also necessary to always play well because that is how we have earned our reputation. And we have to maintain that respect.”

Although he declared himself to be “satisfied by the effort” of his players, Guardiola admitted that Barcelona was “slow and predictable” in that match.

“Sometimes this can happen if you play every three days,” he claimed.

Convinced that Barcelona will play a good match again in Riazor, Guardiola said that a win over Deportivo would be “very important” for the Catalan side to maintain their lead in the league: “We are not talking about maintaining ‘supremacy’, but to win against a big rival on a difficult pitch, would certainly reinforces our standings.”

Guardiola also underlined his admiration for the work done by Deportivo’s coach, Miguel Lotina, and highlighted the significance of overcoming the Galician club: “(Bear in mind) Barcelona has only won three times in Coruna in the past 17 years.”

Returning to the match in Jerez, Pep said he does not want to put the blame on any specific player: “The collective mechanisms of the team are influenced by the ten players around you and in that sense, I do not look at the team from an individual point of view. That’s why I want to make it clear that I don’t want any of my players, especially those who have been getting little playing times to feel responsible.”

Touching on Marquez, who was left out of the squad, the Catalan coach said, “He is still not fully fit physically, but he will still be an indispensable player (for this team).”

As for Bojan, Pep said, “I fully understands his frustration, and of everyone that gets very little playing time, because they probably deserves more than what I gave them.”

Asked about Ibrahimovic, Guardiola emphasizes the “highly competitive nature” of the Swede: “He started the season injured and that penalized him, but he rebels against adverse situations and (with that attitude) he has the ability to decide matches.”

With only one defeat in 23 official matches this season, Barcelona currently leads la Liga and their Champions League group, but Guardiola reiterates that those figures “do not guarantee a win in Riazor” and encourages his team to improve to keep up with the demands: “Of course, a lot was asked of us – referring to the tight schedule – but that is what gives meaning to our profession.”

Asked about his thoughts on Spain’s chances in the World Cup in South Africa, Guardiola said, “The most important thing is to get pass the group stage” and warned that success can only come after defeating “the best teams, as has happened in the Euro against Italy and Germany.”

With all the big European leagues about one-third of the way through the season, it can now be seen who the real marksmen for each respective leagues are, reports Catalan sports paper Sport.

In Spain’s la Liga, Valencia’s David Villa continues to lead the list with 10 goals, one more than Barcelona’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Luis Fabiano of Sevilla, Roberto Soldado of Getafe, and Lionel Messi are joint third with 7.

In England, the battle for the Premiership leading scorers ranking is hot. Didier Drogba of Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur’s Jermaine Defoe share the top spot with 11 goals each. They are followed by Liverpool’s Fernando Torres and Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney with 10 goals.

Antonio Di Natale of Udinese is currently at the top in Italy’s Serie A with 10 goals, while Inter Milan’s Diego Milito and Francesco Totti of Roma are a goal behind.

Bayer Leverkusen’s Stefan Kiessling has emerged as the surprise top marksman by scoring 12 goals in just 14 matches in the German’s Bundesliga, far ahead of 8 other players with 6 goals including that of Schalke’s Kevin Kuranyi, Werder Bremen’s Mesut Ozil and Wolfsburg’s Edin Dzeko.

In French Ligue 1, Anderson Nene of AS Monaco leads the list with 9 goals, followed closely by Stade Rennes’s Asamoah with 8.

Nevertheless there are other more prolific goal-getters from other lower-ranking European leagues such as Luis Suarez of Netherland’s Eredivisie with 17 goals after 14 rounds of matches.

At the end of the season, the leading league goal scorer is awarded the ‘European Golden Shoe’, which is formerly known as the ‘European Golden Boot’.

Since the 1996–97 season, the Association of European Sports Magazines (ESM) – L’Equipe (France), A Bola (Portugal), Don Balon (Spain), Fanatik (Turkey), Foot Magazine (Belgium), Kicker (Germany), La Gazzetta dello Sport (Italy), Sport-Express (Russia), Tipsbladet (Denmark), Voetbal International (Netherlands) and World Soccer (UK) – have awarded the Golden Shoe based on a points system that allows players in tougher leagues to win even if they score fewer goals than a player in a weaker league.

The weightings are determined by the league’s ranking on the UEFA coefficients, which in turn depend on the results of each league’s clubs in European competition over the previous five seasons.

Goals scored in the top five leagues according to the UEFA coefficients list are multiplied by a factor of 2.0, and goals scored in the leagues ranked six to 21 are multiplied by 1.5. Thus goals scored in Spanish la Liga, English Premier League, Italian Serie A, Germany’s Bundesliga and French Ligue 1 will count for more than those scored in the weaker equivalent.

Last season’s ‘European Golden Shoe’ award winner was Uruguayan Diego Forlan of Spain’s Atletico Madrid with 32 goals.

UEFA through its official website has opened balloting for the ‘Team of the Year 2009’ and fans have until January 8, 2010 to select their star performers from a list of 60 players and coaches who have shone in the last 12 months.

UEFA Champions League winner, FC Barcelona leads the nominations with eleven players plus coach Josep Guardiola in the running, while beaten finalists Manchester United FC have six players plus manager Sir Alex Ferguson facing the vote.

In total, 23 clubs have players or a coach on the shortlist. There is no shortage of familiar faces among the nominees with ten of the 12 winners from 2008 again under scrutiny. In addition, Barcelona captain Carles Puyol, who has been selected in four of the previous eight ‘Teams of the Year’, is again up for selection.

This year’s edition is the ninth that UEFA has organised the balloting, and allows internet users to select their choice of players and coaches in the 12 positions from a group of nominees picked by uefa.com’s staff writers on the basis of their displays for club and country in 2009.

For reference, the UEFA ‘Team of the Year 2008’ are:

Goalkeeper: Iker Casillas (Spain, Real Madrid); Defenders: Sergio Ramos (Spain, Real Madrid), John Terry (England, Chelsea), Carles Puyol (Spain, Barcelona), Philipp Lahm (Germany, Bayern Munich); Midfielders: Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal, Manchester United), Xavi Hernández (Spain, Barcelona), Cesc Fàbregas (Spain, Arsenal), Franck Ribery (France, Bayern Munich); Forwards: Lionel Messi (Argentina, Barcelona) and Fernando Torres (Spain, Liverpool).

Coach: Sir Alex Ferguson (Scotland, Manchester United)

LIST OF 2009 NOMINEES ARE:

Goalkeeper: Edwin Van der Sar (Netherlands, Manchester United), Iker Casillas (Spain, Real Madrid) Victor Valdes (Spain, Barcelona), Julio Cesar (Brazil, Inter Milan), Manuel Neuer (German, Schalke 04)

Right Back: Dani Alves (Brazil, Barcelona), Maicon (Brazil, Inter Milan), Darijo Srna (Yugoslavia, Shakhtar Donetsk), Javier Zanetti (Argentina, Inter Milan), Philipp Lahm (Germany, Bayern Munich)

Centre Back: John Terry (England, Chelsea), Nemanja Vidic (Serbia, Manchester United), Gerard Pique (Spain, Barcelona), Giorgio Chiellini (Italy, Juventus), Rio Ferdinand (England, Manchester United), Carles Puyol (Spain, Barcelona), Dmytro Chygrynskiy (Ukraine, Barcelona), Thomas Vermaelen (Belgium, Arsenal), Per Mertesacker (Germany, Werder Bremen), Bruno Alves (Portugal, Porto)

Left Back: Patrice Evra (France, Manchester United), Ashley Cole (England, Chelsea), Eric Abidal (France, Barcelona), Aly Cissokho (Senegal, Olympique Lyon), Marcel Shafer (Germany, Wolfsburg)

Right Midfield: Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal, Real Madrid), Dejan Stankovic (Yugoslavia, Inter Milan), Miloš Krasić (Serbia, CSKA Moscow), Jesus Navas (Spain, Sevilla), Marek Hamsik (Slovakia, Napoli)

Central Midfield: Xavi Hernandez (Spain, Barcelona), Xabi Alonso (Spain, Real Madrid), Yaya Toure (Ivory Coast, Barcelona), Sergei Semak (Russia, Rubin Kazan), Frank Lampard (England, Chelsea)

Attacking Midfield: Steven Gerrard (England, Liverpool), Kaka (Brazil, Real Madrid), Yoann Gourcuff (France, Bordeaux), Zvjezdan Misimovic (Bosnia, Wolfsburg), Diego (Brazil, Juventus)

Left Midfield: Ryan Giggs (Wales, Manchester United), Frank Ribery (France, Bayern Munich), Andrei Arshavin (Russia, Arsenal), Andres Iniesta (Spain, Barcelona), Mesut Ozil (German, Werder Bremen)

Forwards: Samuel Eto’o (Cameroon, Inter Milan), Fernando Torres (Spain, Liverpool), David Villa (Spain, Valencia), Lionel Messi (Argentina, Barcelona), Diego Forlan (Uruguay, Atletico Madrid), Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden, Barcelona), Wayne Rooney (England, Manchester United), Edin Dzeko (Bosnia, Wolfsburg), Grafite (Brazil, Wolfsburg) Marcus Berg (Sweden, Hamburg)

Coaches: Pep Guardiola (Spain, Barcelona), Alex Ferguson (Scotland, Manchester United), Mircea Lucescu (Romania, Shakhtar Donetsk), Laurent Blanc (France, Bordeaux) and Horst Hrubesch (Germany, Germany Youth National Team).