Philippe Coutinho, a former Liverpool player, has been ruled out of Aston Villa’s trip to Anfield on Saturday
The Reds will be overcome with emotion as they bid farewell to some of Coutinho’s illustrious former teammates. Most notably, Liverpool will pay tribute to Villa’s best friend in football, Roberto Firmino.
It would have been nice to see Coutinho and Firmino together on the Anfield pitch one last time. However, according to a post on Villa’s official Twitter account today, Phil will not play in Saturday’s match.
“Philippe will miss the rest of the season due to the injury he suffered before the win over Spurs at Villa Park last weekend,” the update stated.
It’s a pity. Hopefully, Coutinho will still make the trip up to Anfield to wish his former Brazil and Liverpool colleague well.
A story about two Brazilians
Firmino’s time entertaining the Anfield crowd will come to an end on Saturday. Whether or not Coutinho is present on the day, the opposition serves as a reminder of why the 31-year-old is so beloved.
Coutinho could have been given a similar grand farewell by the Liverpool fans in another life. By the time he left in 2018, he was well on his way to becoming a club legend.
But, as Jurgen Klopp seemingly predicted, the 30-year-old has since lost his way in the game.
Some will rightly point out that Coutinho has won numerous trophies since leaving Liverpool. But, in reality, the little magician had little to do with those victories.
If he had stayed at Liverpool, he could have helped Klopp usher the club into a new era. He had the potential to be the main man.
Phil, who is now a mere afterthought at Villa, is likely to leave this summer. How wonderful it would be if he and Bobby could reunite. Two different Anfield stories, two great Brazilians with magic in their boots.
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