Lionel Messi helps Phillippe Coutinho: Barcelona are playing in the second leg of the Copa del Rey against Sevilla.
Barcelona are currently playing Sevilla in the second leg of the Copa del Rey.
They lost the first leg 0-2 and are aiming to overturn the scoreline today.
Lionel Messi, meanwhile, is doing everything he can to help his teammate Philippe Coutinho, who is having a rather difficult time at Barcelona at the moment.
Coutinho has seemingly fallen out of favour with the manager due to inconsistent performances, and has also been linked with a move away from Barca in the current transfer window.
And Messi has now helped his Brazilian teammate regain some confidence in the ongoing second leg of the quarterfinal.
Lionel Messi helps Philippe Coutinho:
Lionel Messi won the penalty in the 13th minute of the game as Barcelona chased the game.
However, the Argentinian star picked the ball and gave it to Coutinho, who slotted it past the goalkeeper for Barcelona’s first goal of the game.
Messi, captain and regular penalty taker, lets a low on confidence Coutinho take it to boos his moral, and scores. My leader.
— J. (@Messilizer) January 30, 2019
Messi gives the penalty to Coutinho and he scores. One great gesture by the Barcelona captain, the Brazilian needs it.
— Rafael Hernández (@RafaelH117) January 30, 2019
Barca doubled the lead in the 31st minute in the game with Rakitic scoring the goal and drew level on the aggregate scoreline.
Earlier, Ernesto Valverde had strong words for his side’s chances to overturn the deficit and make their way into the semifinal of the Copa del Rey.
“We have to give everything. We are a team that, at certain times, always take a step forward and tomorrow we must.
“We know that in those ties where you are behind, the fans support is fundamental, but the team is the one that engages the supporters and it’s a challenge for everyone.”
Messi really just gifted Coutinho that penalty in order to help his confidence, which has been hurting the last couple of weeks.
The kind of gestures you expect from great leaders.— Juan (@socraticjuan) January 30, 2019
🇪🇸| #CopaDelRey#BarcaSevilla 2⃣-0⃣
• Messi winning a penalty, Coutinho scoring ⚽️
• Cilessen saving first penalty in his professional career 🧤
• Barca tie it up in the first 45 minutes ⚖️Can it get better? 🤩
Stats 👇 pic.twitter.com/nloWzuy7i9
— The Swype Sports ⚽ (@TheSwypeSports) January 30, 2019
Messi doing to Coutinho what he did with Neymar.. giving them penalties to boost their confidence. Leadership isn’t only done by speaking loudly, but by those small details that go a long way
— Jad Mbarak (@JadMbarak7) January 30, 2019
Throwback 🔙 Diego Maradona: “Leo is shy and NOT A GOOD LEADER”
Leo Messi just handed Philippe Coutinho the penalty to help Philippe Coutinho re-build his confidence
Selfless Messi Outscores every other out in out striker in the world!.pic.twitter.com/9SOb1C3Sht
— BarçaTimes (@BarcaTimes) January 30, 2019
“We had a good result, but there is still 90 minutes to go and Barcelona are capable of scoring two goals against us.
“The possibility of extra time is there and I hope we don’t go through that given the extra energy it would take. To avoid that we have to score.”
