Philippe Coutinho was “invisible” at Anfield, the Catalan press remarked after Barcelona’s disastrous Champions League defeat to Liverpool.
The Brazilian cost the Spanish champions £142 million in January 2018, but has since failed to justify the exorbitant outlay.
The Catalan press quickly sharpened their knives and now the villains have been quickly identified, with Coutinho the main culprit.
“Invisible,” Sport wrote. “The faith of Valverde was not returned.”
A shameful 0/10 was handed out in the player ratings, equalled only by Ivan Rakitic.
With whistles from the Barcelona fans, doubts about his compatibility with the emergence of Arthur and the summer arrival of Frenkie De Jong from Ajax, a summer exit looks probable.
Coutinho was far from the only one to blame, with the aforementioned Rakitic handed an embarrassing 0.
While every other player received three, except Lionel Messi and Arturo Vidal, who managed to reach a lofty five out of 10.
Sport’s Barcelona player ratings
Ter Stegen – 3
Sergi Roberto – 3
Pique - 3
Lenglet - 3
Alba - 3
Busquets - 3
Rakitic - 0
Vidal - 5
Messi - 5
Coutinho - 0
Suarez - 3
Sport’s Liverpool player ratings
Alisson - 8
Alexander-Arnold - 8
Matip - 7
Van Dijk - 7
Robertson - 7
Fabinho - 7
Henderson - 7
Milner - 7
Shaqiri - 7
Mane - 8
Origi - 9
Wijnaldum - 9
