Coutinho, the burning nail

In these times of misery, Barça has to hold on to any burning nail. The one of these weeks can be Philippe Coutinho. Recovered from his very serious injury to the external meniscus of his left knee, which forced him to miss 33 games last season, plus three this season because he was not yet recovered, the Brazilian, the most expensive signing in Barça's history, reappeared on Tuesday against Bayern Munich. Coutinho had been out of the fields since the eve of New Year's Eve. On December 29 he was injured against Eibar. Since then, and after the operation was complicated, he had not been able to play.

Coutinho has no credit for the Barça fans. After a very promising start in his first months as a Barça player, with an important role in the second half of the 2017-18 season (nine goals and seven assists in 22 games), the 2018-19 season was supposed to be the one of his explosion and, nevertheless, it ended up being that of his divorce at the Camp Nou. Despite being the player who opened the scoring in Madrid's hand (5-1 in October 2018 without Messi), his football did not connect with the stands, which from a sector began to despair with a somewhat pasty rhythm of play and to recriminate it until the Brazilian, after scoring a great goal at Manchester United, made a gesture against the first grandstand that ended up exploding on Liverpool's day. Despite being 3-0 that day, Messi had to ask that people not whistle at the Brazilian. The end of the season, with the opportunity he threw at Anfield, ended up sentencing him and, after the signing of Griezmann, he ended up on loan at Bayern, who did not see any solution in the Brazilian either and, despite the triplet, he dispensed with him. In his position, Gnabry, Eat more the Sané or Musiala who were to come would block his way

Last season, Koeman wanted to give him a spot on the team, but Pedri stepped over him even before the injury. The lack of players up front and the absence of the canary these two weeks open a space for a player who has not only had physical problems, but also confidence that have led him to seek help and advice to try to overcome the current situation. At 29, and after Barça found no club to place him in this summer because his market value has plummeted, Coutinho is at the perfect age to still play football, to change his current situation. Nobody believes in him, but it is time for burning nails.