Major Setback For Barcelona As $185M Midfielder Won't Be Available For Juventus Clash

FC Barcelona suffered a setback after a test Sunday ruled out Philippe Coutinho from their upcoming Champions League away fixture against Juventus. Coutinho, who has been Ronald Koeman’s most consistent player since the start of the 2020-21 campaign, sustained a hamstring injury, but the club has failed to provide a return date for the player.

"A test on Sunday morning has revealed that Philippe Coutinho has a left biceps femoris (hamstring) injury. Exactly how long that means he will be out of action depends on how the injury evolves," said the La Liga club in an official statement on their website.

Coutinho started Saturday’s El Clasico, which Barca lost 3-1 at home, and played the full ninety minutes. He has played a total of six competitive games thus far this season (five in La Liga and one in the Champions League), scoring one goal in each competition.

Having flopped in the first season at Camp Nou following his $185 million move from Liverpool FC in the 2018 January season, Coutinho was loaned off to Bayern Munich ahead of the 2019-20 season. He helped Bayern Munich win a domestic treble last season. Coutinho even scored against his parent club, Barcelona, in a stunning 8-2 quarter-final triumph in the Champions League. But, the Bundesliga side chose not to sign the Brazilian playmaker permanently.

When the summer transfer window had commenced earlier this year, Barcelona were tipped to offload Coutinho. However, Barcelona’s new boss Koeman made it clear that Coutinho still had a future at Camp Nou and the Brazilian midfielder was very much included in his future plans for the club.

Koeman has since been rewarded for his faith in the 28-year-old, who has netted two goals and provided two assists in six appearances for the Blaugrana so far in the ongoing season.

After defeating Ferencvaros 5-1 in their opening Group G match in the Champions League, Barcelona will look to avoid a defeat when they take on Juventus at the Allianz Stadium Wednesday. The game could have pitted Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo for the first time since the Portuguese’s move from Real Madrid to Juventus. But, Ronaldo is currently out as he is still recovering after being COVID-19 positive.