Philippe Coutinho made his first Liverpool appearance of the season in the Reds’ 2-2 draw with Sevilla in the Champions League last night. The player came off the bench late on to rapturous applause from the Anfield crowd.
It was Coutinho’s first appearance since a summer transfer saga, which saw the player submit a transfer request in order to seal a move to Barcelona. The Brazilian has missed the Reds’ opening games with a back complaint.
Reds boss Jurgen Klopp was upbeat about the Brazilian’s cameo, insisting that it will help the player re-establish his match fitness in the long term, even if he didn’t impress during his 13 minutes on the field.
“Phil trained in the last few days really, really well but tonight a few situations were not too lucky and he was without rhythm. But it helped him he could play tonight and it helped us in the long term, for sure, so all OK.