FC Barcelona v Manchester United - UEFA Champions League Quarter Final: Second Leg
#4 Philippe Coutinho
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FC Barcelona v Manchester United - UEFA Champions League Quarter Final: Second Leg
The Brazilian started from the left and did have extra motivation, playing against one of his old foes. But Coutinho did find going a bit tough at the start, especially since he failed to break Lindelof, who was tight to him and denied him any room to have an impact. The Swede matched step for step with the Brazilian and did not allow him to assert his influence in the first half.
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In reply, Coutinho drifted inside and combined well with his midfield to affect the game through a central position. He was unmarked here and often stitched together a series of passes to put the pressure on the United defense. But it was in the 61st minute that Coutinho finally had his moment.
A beautiful ball from Messi was headed into the Brazilian’s way by Suarez and Coutinho took a couple of steps inside, set himself up and unleashed a sweet volley to make it 3-0. It was the goal that ultimately broke United.
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Deepungsu Pandit
Deepungsu is a veteran football journalist who has been covering daily transfer roundups and news for over six years at Sportskeeda. He has written close to 9000 articles for the website, and has garnered over 19.5Million reads.
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