Barcelona: Philippe Coutinho reveals feeling nervous prior to PSV clash

The Brazilian made his debut in the Champions League for Barcelona against the Dutch champions.

Barcelona made light work of PSV as they came away with a 4-0 win in the Champions League opener. The Dutch side is the weakest team on paper in a group which also contains Tottenham Hotspur and Internazionale. Therefore, winning this match was crucial because it should be the easiest game out of the six.

Philippe Coutinho joined Barcelona in the January transfer window but wasn’t able to feature in the Champions League campaign due to ineligibility because he had played for Liverpool in the group stages. Therefore, he had to watch on as Roma shocked Barcelona with a 3-0 win at the Stadio Olimpico to knock them out in the quarter-finals for the third year running.

The rules have since changed, so players can feature for multiple teams within the same season, but it came too late for the Brazilian.

Andres Iniesta’s departure in the summer has left a large hole to fill with Coutinho having the tough task of replacing the club legend. His performances have been impressive so far as he has featured in every match; he did start on the bench against Real Sociedad but Ernesto Valverde brought him and Sergio Busquets on to change the game when they were 1-0 down.

The Champions League opener against PSV was his first involvement in the competition for the Catalans. He has featured at every level including the World Cup, but it was still a big occasion for the Brazilian based on his recent comments.

This is what he had to say on his feelings pre-match.

"“Making my Champions League debut was a unique feeling. I was very anxious before the game. Last year I couldn’t play in this competition and I hope that as time goes by I can improve and help the team.”"

He was also full of praise for teammate Lionel Messi after a sublime performance against PSV which included a hat-trick.

"“Messi always shoots and scores goals, which is what it important to score goals and win games. Its amazing what he does. The truth is he is an unpredictable player, he always does new things.”"

It wasn’t obvious that he was nervous based on how he played because he was assured in possession as well as innovative in the final third as he linked up well with his teammates. He had a couple of chances to score as well because he headed over early on and fired one of his trademark curling shots in the 58th minute, but Jeroen Zoet did well to push it wide.

Overall, it was a composed display from the Brazilian, but it naturally got overlooked due to Messi and Ousmane Dembele’s individual brilliance. Valverde will have certainly been impressed, though, because he did exactly what was required. The main question will be whether he can replicate this against harder opponents, but he has shown in the league that the level of the opposition doesn’t inhibit his influence.