FOR 80 minutes, Barcelona had struggled and slogged through their top-of-the-table clash with Atletico Madrid. The incentive was clear – win and the Catalans would all but secure their eighth La Liga title in the past 11 years. Lose, however, and the title race at the top of the Spanish top flight would be reignited. Barca just couldn’t find their fire, though.

All that changed with one substitution. With just 10 minutes left, Ernesto Valverde hooked Philippe Coutinho. The inclusion of the Brazilian playmaker over the in-form Malcom had raised eyebrows in the first place and his performance did little to vindicate the decision of his manager. Just six minutes later, Barcelona were 2-0 up.

The withdrawal of Coutinho allowed Barca to play something closer to their natural game. Malcom, a much more natural deputy for the injured Ousmane Dembele, opened up space across the final third in a way Coutinho had failed to for the majority of the match prior to that. With victory over Atleti, the Catalans essentially tied the ribbons on the Liga trophy. No thanks to Coutinho, though.

Now, Barcelona face another landmark moment in their season, with Valverde’s side travelling to face Manchester United at Old Trafford on Wednesday. The Catalans, having watched Real Madrid win four Champions League titles in five years, have placed added emphasis on Europe this season, but Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s will have to be toppled if they are to make the final four.

Barca will be overwhelming favourites for the tie. Solskjaer’s side mustn’t be underestimated, having eliminated Paris Saint-Germain in the round of 16, but recent defeats have exposed just how far short of the top Man Utd still are. Nonetheless, the Old Trafford side have a chance, especially if Coutinho plays.

That isn’t meant as a personal slight on the Brazilian. He is, undoubtedly, an exceptional player, as he showed over many years at Liverpool. But Coutinho’s problems at Barcelona are down to more than just low confidence and poor form. He is a misfit and a hindrance. Rather than conducting the electricity of Barca’s attacking play, he is an insulator. Dead rubber.

Coutinho has been having a rough season. We need him to get back to his best more than ever this week.

At Liverpool, he had several magical performances against Manchester United. Also, let's not forget his performance against another English team this season, the Spurs! pic.twitter.com/QQSi0lpXQj

— BC TV (@barcacentretv) April 8, 2019

It’s no coincidence that Barcelona, almost without exception, play better when Coutinho is left out of the play. Within minutes of the Brazilian being subbed off on Saturday, the Catalans were back to their usual, free-flowing selves. This wasn’t an isolated case, either. It was the same against Espanyol the week before, when Barca scored two late goals, with Coutinho hooked after 82 minutes. 

The starkest such case came in a home game against relegation-threatened Rayo Vallecano at the start of March. Despite leading 2-1, Barcelona were struggling. Their attacking play was disjointed, stilted. Yet within mere seconds of Coutinho’s withdrawal, they scored a rapid, counter-attacking goal, the kind of goal that would have been almost impossible with the former Liverpool man still on the pitch.

With every game he plays, Coutinho further proves why he is not cut out to be a Barcelona player. He has the technical ability to succeed at Camp Nou, but not the in-game intelligence, nor the positional awareness, and with speculation over his future continuing to swirl it’s becoming increasingly difficult to envisage the playmaker staying at the club beyond the summer.

Recent reports claim Dembele, the French winger who had been keeping Coutinho out of the team until recently, could recover from injury in time to make Wednesday’s Champions League quarter final at Old Trafford. If not, though, Malcom, who has made quite the impact in recent weeks, would be the best option. 

For reasons unclear to most, however, Malcom has yet to fully earn the trust of Valverde and this could mean that Coutinho, just as he did against Atletico Madrid on Saturday, could face Manchester United from the start. When the team sheet is published on Wednesday evening, his, not Lionel Messi or Luis Suarez or anyone else’s, is the first name Solskjaer should be looking for.

A £10 bet on Man United to beat Barcelona returns £37.50