Barcelona assistant coach Tito Vilanova hailed Thierry Henry as the key to their 3-0 win over Valencia at the Nou Camp.
Lionel Messi stole the show with a sublime second-half hat-trick, but the Catalans were disappointing in the first period and Henry's introduction proved pivotal.
Henry, who came on for the ineffectual Bojan Krkic at the break, was a constant threat and set up Messi's second and third goals with two wonderful passes.
Vilanova, who gave the official press conference in place of suspended coach Pep Guardiola, claimed Henry gave Messi the freedom to cause Valencia problems.
"He gave us more presence in attack and allowed Messi more freedom of movement," he said.
"With the introduction of Henry, we were able to play further forward and pressure Valencia more when they came out with the ball, and we pushed up against their centre-backs - our positioning was better and that showed."
Vilanova felt Henry, who struck a hat-trick himself in the corresponding fixture last season, was just the right player to open up Sunday's match.
"He allows you to play further forward and into space, and he is used to playing centrally, which showed tonight," he said.
Vilanova added Henry is more comfortable in that position and said the Frenchman benefited from the extra space which resulted from the Hedwiges Maduro.
"When he plays on the wing he has less space and also with Maduro's sending-off he found more space, which he was able to exploit," he said.
And the Barca number two felt Henry has been looking like his old self in this week's training sessions following a largely forgettable season so far in which he has scored just three goals.
"All of his training sessions this week have been excellent - the lack of goals has perhaps eaten away at his confidence, but today he was outstanding," he said.
Vilanova also praised Messi's contribution.
"He was great and we know the quality he has when he plays so close to the opposition area - that is where he does the damage," he said.
Valencia coach Unai Emery hailed Messi as perhaps the world's best player.
"He is possibly the best player in the world, in what is a great Barcelona collective," he said, before explaining three key moments changed the game.
"There were three decisive moments: (David) Albelda's injury, Maduro's sending-off and (Nikola) Zigic's chance," he said.
Zigic missed a one-on-one with Victor Valdes which would have levelled the game at 1-1 after 68 minutes and Maduro was sent off just moments later.
Albelda, who impressed in the holding role before departing through injury in the 44th minute, was also missed.
"The game was even, but we lost our balance when Albelda went off and it showed," Emery said.
The Valencia boss revealed he could have selected star striker David Villa, but opted not to risk the forward, especially with Thursday's Europa League last-16 second-leg clash against Werder Bremen in mind.
"He is a very important player for us, but without him Valencia are still alive," he said.
"Medically he could have taken part, but he was not going to be 100% and in a game where we had to fight every ball it was better to reserve him."
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