El Clasico 2018/19: 4 Players who could start in Messi's position for Barcelona

#3 Philippe Coutinho

FC Barcelona v FC Internazionale - UEFA Champions League Group B

The Brazilian will most certainly start from the left side, however, Valverde could be tempted to surprise Real Madrid by starting Coutinho in Messi's position on the right. The Brazilian has already scored 4 goals from 13 games in all competitions so far, registering another 3 assists and since joining Barcelona at the start of the year, has taking to the La Liga like fish to water.

Coutinho has also formed a formidable understanding with Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez and can be effective on the right wing as well. He thrives in the free role that Messi has mastered over the years and can find his teammates with inch-perfect balls.

However, Coutinho might not be as effective while cutting in from the right. Also, the Brazilian has thrived in the left side of the attack and moving him out of position might affect his playing style, especially since he is so good at cutting in from the left and shooting.

But if called upon, Coutinho is still capable of affecting the game from Messi's position.

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Deepungsu is a veteran football journalist who has been covering daily transfer roundups and news for over six years at Sportskeeda. He has written close to 9000 articles for the website, and has garnered over 19.5Million reads.

Deepungsu holds a PG degree in Microbiology and an MBA degree in Total Quality Management. He has an extensive two-decade long writing experience, which includes a decade of sports blogging. His writing prowess has even led his work getting cited on the legendary Franz Beckenbauer's Wikipedia page.

Inspired by Diego Maradona, Deepungsu played as an attacking midfielder for his local club at subdivision level in his initial years and scored an important goal or two. However, his all-time favorite footballer is Lionel Messi, and evidently, he feels Argentina's glory in 2022 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment for fulfilling his long-standing dream. He is also an ardent East Bengal fan.

Deepungsu has been a Manchester United supporter since the year 2000. Unsurprisingly, his favorite manager is Sir Alex Ferguson and the Scotsman helped him get through some of the toughest days of his life. Like the fiery Scot, Deepungsu also leaves no stone unturned when it comes to accuracy in articles and only relies on credible sources.

Despite believing in Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland to create an iconic rivalry, Deepungsu reckons no one can match the longevity of Messi and Ronaldo. He spends his leisure time writing about life on his blog, reading books, and playing the guitar.

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Edited by Sundaresh Kumar