Barcelona 3-0 Liverpool: 5 Talking Points

#4 Coutinho and Suarez watch against their former side

Suarez wheels away to celebrate his composed finish against his former side midway through the first-half

Despite an encouraging start to proceedings, Philippe Coutinho endured another frustrating display and this time it happened to be against his former side.

Much has been said about Liverpool and their improvements since the Brazilian's departure in January 2018, although it's not a fair comparison given how long he was there and the consequent time since his big-money move.

He started brightly and tested Alisson from 20 yards after good build-up play alongside Messi, before doing the same a minute later - though he was correctly ruled as offside. After that, he often ran into cul-de-sacs and rather flattered to deceive, something that has been the case far too often for Barca's liking since his arrival. Unsurprisingly replaced just before the hour mark for a determined Nelson Semedo, it wasn't the fairytale display he would have hoped for.

As for Suarez, well, it was a typical Luis Suarez performance from the tireless Uruguayan. Liverpool might have quietly hoped he'd have mercy on them, but there's never a dull day when Luis is around. He showed great awareness to split Liverpool's centre-backs before composure proved key in slotting home beyond Alisson after Jordi Alba's delightful low cross in the box.

Yet over the 90 minutes, he only had 37 touches, 72.7% pass completion rate and was dispossessed twice, while missing the big chance (hitting the crossbar) from which Messi finished the rebound.

With four completed dribbles, two fouls committed, constantly straying offside and simply persistent in his attempts to baffle Liverpool's backline, it was a typical display from an experienced forward who knew precisely what he had to do to get under the Reds' skin. He did so to perfection and relishes the role of pantomime villain.