Klopp thrilled by Coutinho as Brazilian strikes winner to lift Liverpool over Leicester
A moment of Philippe Coutinho magic lifted Liverpool to a 2-1 pre-season victory over Leicester City in the final of the Premier League Asia Trophy yesterday in Hong Kong.
With Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp rejecting a big-money offer from Barcelona for Coutinho earlier this week, the Brazilian underlined his importance to Klopp’s side with a flash of individual brilliance in Hong Kong.
The 25-year-old picked the ball up on the left of the area on the stroke of half-time, jinked his way inside and let fly with a superb right-foot strike that proved to be the game-winner.
“Everybody knows that Phil Coutinho is a key player for us,” Klopp said.
“He loves the club, he loves the city. He is a fantastic footballer. If he is able to play like tonight, in a very difficult moment of the pre-season after all the [training] sessions, that shows his big potential.”
Coutinho had earlier played the role of provider for new signing Mohamed Salah, dinking the ball on to the Egyptian’s head to cancel out Islam Slimani’s 12th-minute nodded opener.
Klopp was involved in a heated exchange with referee Bobby Madley in the first half. The German later said his anger had been sparked by some close attention he felt Coutinho was receiving from the Leicester defenders.
“These players make the difference. These players bring people to the stadium,” Klopp said. “That’s why have to look after them a little bit.”
Elsewhere, AC Milan’s big summer signing Leonardo Bonucci enjoyed a winning debut for his new club as the Italians crushed Bayern Munich 4-0 in a pre-season game in China.
The centre-back moved from Juventus for a fee of €40 million (Dh171.4m) last week and came on as second-half substitute in front of nearly 40,000 fans in Shenzhen.
Franck Kessie, Patrick Cutrone and Giacomo Bonaventura put the Serie A side 3-0 up before the break.
Hakan Calhanoglu added a fourth in the second half.
“The result surprised me a bit,” Carlo Ancelotti, the Bayern coach, said of his side’s loss.
“The balance was missing in our game, but we are still in pre-season and need time.
“We have to continue working to be ready for the start of the season.”
Manchester United continue their pre-season tour of the United States with a game with European champions Real Madrid at the Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara tonight (kick-off midnight UAE time).
United defeated Manchester City 2-0 on Thursday in their most recent friendly, and new signing Victor Lindelof is excited by the prospect of working under Jose Mourinho.
“He is a very good manager. I like him a lot,” the Swedish defender said.
“He helped the players a lot when you speak to them, so I think I am going to develop a lot under him.”