Thierry Henry, Gonzalo Higuain and Lionel Messi make it an awesome threesome in this edition of La Liga Team of the Week.

By Abhishek Mehrotra

Juan Pablo Colinas - Sporting Gijon (Sporting Gijon 0-0 Athletic Bilbao)
Colinas resembled an inspired gymnast - twisting, turning and leaping to keep his under-siege team on level terms with Athletic Bilbao. No save was more crucial than the one he made from the spot to deny Bilbao's Igor Gabilondo.

Antonio Lopez - Atletico Madrid (Atletico Madrid 1-0 Osasuna)
Was one of the few attacking threats as Atletico struggled to break down stubborn Osasuna. The skipper forced the visitors on the back-foot with some enterprising play on the left. Stretched the Osasuna defence by going wide.

Fredrico Fazio - Sevilla (Sevilla 1-1 Deportivo La Coruna)
The centre-back gave his team the lead with a precisely placed header. He was also instrumental in keeping Deportivo at bay as the visitors went on the rampage in a bid to get a winner.

Alberto Botia - Sporting Gijon (Sporting Gijon 0-0 Athletic Bilbao)
Botia's performance was in some ways the antithesis of a classical centre-back. He shredded Athletic Bilbao's midfield with some driving runs and was unlucky not to score. Helped keeper Colinas out of many a hairy situation with some quick clearances.

Angel Lopez - Villareal (Villareal 2-0 Xerez)
Bombed down the right at every opportunity - feeding in crosses and square balls to keep the Yellow Submarine firing on all cylinders. It was one such ball that found Damian Escudero who finished with aplomb to calm the nerves against doughty Xerez.

Lassana Diarra - Real Madrid (Real Valladolid 1-4 Real Madrid)
Plugged the holes in the notoriously porous Madrid defence - covering both wide and central areas to make sure Real Valladolid did not cause any alarms. Found the right pass almost every time - which allowed Real's wizards up front come into play.

Diego Perotti - Sevilla (Sevilla 1-1 Deportivo La Coruna)
His dead-ball delivery was right on the money - teasing the Deportivo defence with its flight and dip. Helped his team take the lead and put in some other quality balls that his teammates missed by a hair's breadth. Should have scored himself but was unlucky to hit the post with another near-perfect free kick.

Ricardo Richi - Tenerife (Tenerife 4-1 Espanyol)
Opened the scoring for Tenerife with a fortuitous strike that deflected off a defender and into the net. His biggest contribution, however, came in a defensive role. With his team engaging in all out attack, Richi marshalled the deeper areas to cut out any possibility of Espanyol catching them on the break.

Thierry Henry - Barcelona (Barcelona 3-0 Valencia)
Titi was in the spotlight again - but this time for the right reasons. After coming on as a substitute in the second half- the Frenchman brought back memories of his heady Arsenal days with some superb movement on and off the ball. Set up two of Lionel Messi's three goals.

Lionel Messi - Brarcelona (Barcelona 3-0 Valencia)
Players like Messi are the bane of sports journalists around the world, sending them scurrying in search of newer and better adjectives to describe his play. He was at it again - ghosting past three Valencia players before slotting the ball in to give his team the lead after a first half stalemate had furrowed the brows at Nou Camp. Put them two up with a curler and rounded things off with a low shot that went below keeper Cesar Sanchez .

Gonzalo Higuain - Real Madrid (Real Valladolid 1-4 Real Madrid)
The striker's sparkling performance dispelled some of the darkness surrounding Manuel Pellegrini's men ever since their Champions League exit. Higuain teased the Valladolid defence all night - turning supplier and receiver in equal measure, ending up with a deserved hat-trick.