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#2 Phillipe Coutinho and Ousmane Dembele step up their game
As discussed previously both Dembele and Coutinho were the mischief-makers for the Spurs defence. Coutinho rejuvenated himself with his performance after a string of bad games at the left-wing which called for the change of his position. Valverde stuck with him at the left-wing and this time he delivered.
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Although there were not many link-up plays from Barcelona, Coutinho showcased just how good an individual he is against Spurs. He ran at the defence time and again and took his trademark finesse shots to perfection. It was out of bad luck that he hit the post twice, once at the brink of half-time and one just before the Spurs goal. He also made 41 of his attempted 47 passes while also making a key pass. This was more of an individual show from the Brazilian but the team needs him to do this when they go back to build-up play. Barcelona is not a team of individuals.
Moving on, just how good is Ousmane Dembele? We know that Jadon Sancho can run at the defence like mad, we know that Guendouzi can run box-to-box for 90 minutes and we know that Mbappe can run with pace and also finish the play. But what about this French musketeer? This season he doesn't seem to be running out of gas. He has been involved directly in 9 goals in his last 9 games. He is scoring and assisting at will. Right foot, left foot, finesse shot, solo goal, any way you like it.
Against Spurs, he completed 3 dribbles, scored a marvellous solo goal, won two aerial duels and made two key passes. If this is Ousmane Dembele, who is reportedly not serious about his game, parties around at night, arrives late to training and plays video games, then what if he was disciplined?
Someone needs to mentor this kid to be more focused on his game. This is as big a potential as Kylian Mbappe and if he gets his game on track, France doesn't have to worry about their lead forwards for another decade.
