Selling ‘wonderful’ Coutinho allowed Liverpool to become a more rounded team

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Liverpool travel to the Nou Camp to face Barcelona tonight in the first leg of their Champions League semi final tie, in a match that will pit them against former icon Phillipe Coutinho.

Coutinho was a darling of the Anfield crowd and he left Anfield in January 2018 to considerable fanfare, with many fans fearing they’d once more sold their best player.

But the money has allowed Liverpool to strengthen their defence – by buying Alisson and Virgil van Dijk – as well as making them a more rounded side, able to carry out Jurgen Klopp’s preferred pressing game.

Coutinho is a mercurial talent but he was an awkward fit out wide when Klopp prefers searing pace there, and was not always suited to a central midfield role when sometimes greater energy and discipline is needed.

BT Sport dug up the stats that show Liverpool have a 16 per cent greater win percentage without Coutinho and score more goals (2.15 compared to 1.8 goals per game) – among other elements – suggesting that they are actually a better side without him.

Few would have predicted that being the case at the time of his departure, when JOE reported that Klopp described Coutinho as ‘fantastic’ and ‘wonderful’.

Coutinho has the talent to put his former employers to the sword tonight, but his struggles at Barcelona raise further questions over his best position and ability to fit into a team structure.

His departure was certainly the catalyst for this new, slicker, more robust Liverpool side.