Philippe Coutinho rolls back the years as ex-Liverpool star impresses for new club
Former Liverpool favourite Philippe Coutinho seems to be enjoying life back in Brazil. He made the move back to his first ever club back in the summer.
After falling down the pecking order at Aston Villa, the 32-year-old spent last season on loan with Quatari side Al-Duhail. He returned to Villa Park at the end of the season, but again moved away on loan in July.
This time he made an emotional return to Brazilian Vasco da Gama, the club where he came up through the youth ranks. He moved to Inter in 2008 but spent two years back on loan with Vasco.
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Now, 14 years later, he has returned to the club. Vasco and Coutinho were in league action on Sunday when they took on Palmerias in Serie A. The midfielder was named on the substitutes bench but came on just before the hour mark.
A clip of his involvement has now been shared on social media. It shows Coutinho receiving the ball in midfield and using his skill to Cruyff turn, drag the ball back, and then nut-meg his opponent to beat two players trying to close him down; he then runs with the ball before winning a free-kick.
Vasco did lose the game 1-0 thanks to Jose Manuel Lopez’s 26th-minute goal. The piece of skill comes after Coutinho scored his first goal of the season in last week's 1-1 draw with Flamengo.
They are next in action on Sunday when they take on seventh-placed Cruzeiro away from home. Coutinho will be hoping that his performance against Palmerias will see him win his place back after his return from a four-game lay-off due to injury has seen him named on the bench for the last two games.
Coutinho spent five years at Liverpool between January 2013 and January 2018. During that time, he scored 54 goals and provided 43 assists in 201 appearances for the club.