Guardiola's side had seen their lead at the top of the table cut back to two points just before taking to the field in Coruna, following Real Madrid's 4-2 victory at home to Almeria.

Barca had been held to three straight draws on the road in the league before a 2-0 win at Xerez in midweek, and Guardiola called for improvement ahead of last night's game.

Lionel Messi put Barca in front after 26 minutes but Deportivo hit back later in the first half through a scrappy Adrian Lopez strike.

The game could have gone either way after that but Barca's quality eventually told as Messi headed the Catalans in front before Zlatan Ibrahimovic added a third at the death.

"Deportivo had just a shot and a half on target," said Guardiola. "We were back to playing as we can, playing as ourselves, but that wasn't enough in the first half, although I think we deserved more than to go in level at the break.

"We kept at it in the second half and, although we weren't as brilliant, I'm very happy with the team's performance.

"We dominated at a very difficult ground and that's why this was an important win."

Attention now turns to the midweek Champions League match at Dynamo Kiev, a game Guardiola describes as his side's "biggest of the season".

The Catalans must avoid a 2-0 defeat, or a loss by three goals or more, if they are to be sure of a place in the last 16.

"This is the biggest game of our season so far and that will define the rest of our season," he said.

"I'm confident that we will perform well.

"We cannot go out of Europe and we have to finish top of our group.

"This game is even more important than the World Club Cup and we must go into it with the kind of motivation we showed tonight."