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Watching Barcelona matches must have been tough enough for Liverpool fans even before Philippe Coutinho’s arrival at the Camp Nou earlier this month, with what former Reds striker Luis Suarez scoring goals for fun in La Liga over the past three-and-a-half years.
Now, though, you could forgive Liverpool supporters if they deliberately avoid all of Barça’s matches for the foreseeable future.
The sight of Coutinho and Suarez playing for the Blaugrana presumably too unbearable to stomach; a painful reminder of what they used to have at Anfield.
The South American duo reunited on Thursday evening in the Copa del Rey quarter-final second leg against Espanyol.
Suarez had already scored by the time Coutinho was sent on for his Barça debut midway through the second half, while Lionel Messi had netted another for the home side, as the Catalan giants set out to overturn last week’s 1-0 defeat.
Coutinho made a positive impression on his first appearance for his new employers but failed to score a debut goal.
Suarez inadvertently denied Coutinho an assist
He didn’t register an assist, either - although that wasn’t entirely his fault.
Coutinho set Suarez up in the 74th minute for what should have been a simple tap-in. However, the Uruguayan forward fluffed his lines, denying Coutinho an assist in the process.
Watch it here (2.16) in the video...
Suarez sent Coutinho a tweet after the match
Suarez made amends after the match by sending his teammate a light-hearted tweet, which has gone viral overnight.
He tweeted: “TO SEMIFINALS Congratulations for your debut @Phil_Coutinho and I hope to score next time . GREAT TEAM WORK!!!!!”
Clearly, he saw the funny side of his miss - although he wouldn’t have been laughing at Espanyol scored a late goal.
As it was, Barcelona held on to their two-goal advantage to book their place in the Copa del Rey semi-finals.
Coutinho: It was a special night for me
"It was a very special night for me,” Coutinho told reporters, per Sport, after the final whistle. “I’m not going to forget it. All the fans and the players greeted me really well, they helped me a lot.
"I was a bit nervous and anxious, but later I calmed down and adapted to the game. I am very happy to have played my first minutes with this club. I was moved by my reception.
"In the end we won, which was the most important thing, and got through to the next round. It was a difficult game as we expected. They waited for us on the counter, but from the first moment we controlled the play, we had a good game, and we deserved the victory."
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