Philippe Coutinho 'likely' to leave Barcelona claims expert
Barcelona go to Old Trafford for the first leg of their last-eight tie on Wednesday night and Coutinho could be singled out by United fans as he spent five years at Anfield.
Luis Suarez is also braced to be the target of the Old Trafford boo boys but Coutinho insists that will only inspire him to put in a good performance.
“It won't make any difference to me,” the Brazilian said.
“And, even more than that, it is an incentive to play better and to be even more focused.
“I know that games against Manchester United are special. I learned what they meant during my time at Liverpool when we lived it so intensely with the fans.
“I have that nailed in my memory and, even though this is a different stage, if Barcelona knock United out of Europe, it will be a double personal satisfaction for me.”
If Barca beat United and Liverpool win their quarter-final with Porto then Coutinho will face his former club in the last four.
He is relishing the chance to play at Anfield again but says he would have rather had the chance to meet them in June’s showpiece at the Wanda Metropolitano.
Philippe Coutinho says he is relishing the prospect of facing Manchester United with Barcelona (Image: GETTY)
“I know that Liverpool supporters will be with us at United,” Coutinho added.
“But they know that later we could see them at Anfield and then, of course, I will be there with Barcelona wanting to win.
“It would be a dream to play at Anfield again, an explosion of different feelings, I'm sure.
“But I have to be honest and say I would have preferred to meet Liverpool only in the final itself.”
Coutinho says he will be extra focussed to peform well because of his love for Liverpool (Image: GETTY)
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Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi scored in Barca's win over Atletico Madrid on Saturday (Image: GETTY)
Barca prepared for the United clash by beating Atletico Madrid 2-0 at the Nou Camp on Saturday evening.
Lionel Messi and Suarez both soccer in the last five minutes in a game that saw former Chelsea striker Diego Costa shown a straight red card for abusing referee Jesus Gil Manzano.
Ernesto Valverde’s side are now on the brink of winning the La Liga title for a second consecutive year.
Lionel Messi scores ICONIC goal against Getafe in 2007
"It's three very important points," Valverde said after the win. "We are closer to the title, but we still have it [to win].
"The work has to be finished. Today [Saturday] was a fundamental match because they can mean a lot.
"We are very happy because our opponent was second in the table and a huge team who has fought to the end with one less man."