Philippe Coutinho made his Barcelona debut on Thursday night, replacing Andres Iniesta in the second half as they progressed to the Copa del Rey semi finals by beating city rivals Espanyol 2-0.
The Brazilian playmaker made the £146million move to the Camp Nou from Liverpool earlier this month, but had to wait a few weeks to make his debut through injury.
Goals from usual suspects Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez were enough to overturn a one-goal deficit from the first leg, taking Ernesto Valverde a step closer to another trophy, with La Liga seemingly wrapped up already.
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Some people may have looked into the fact Coutinho came on for Iniesta, the man he is supposedly the heir to in the Barcelona midfield, but the Spain legend also gave a good account of himself to remind everyone of his qualities.
It certainly didn’t take long for fans and journalists to be impressed with the new boy, though.
Coutinho looks like he’s been playing at Barça all his life..
— Fiaz Hamzath (@fiazhamzath) January 25, 2018
Shouldn't be surprised given he cost €160 million etc... but Coutinho looks right at home at Camp Nou already.
— Samuel Marsden (@samuelmarsden) January 25, 2018
Coutinho fits Valverde’s system perfectly. That left midfield role was basically made for him.
— EiF (@EiFSoccer) January 25, 2018
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