Lionel Messi explains why Coutinho took Barcelona’s penalty against Sevilla

Lionel Messi talked about why he handed over penalty-taking responsibilities to Philippe Coutinho against Sevilla on Wednesday night.

The Brazilian opened the scoring from the spot after Messi had been fouled in a 6-1 win for Barcelona which saw them progress 6-3 on aggregate.

Coutinho has not been in the greatest form recently but wanted to take the spot-kick and Messi was happy to let him have it.

“Coutinho had scored a penalty against Levante and he wanted to take it,” he said.

“We talked about it. So he took it and I am happy because the comeback started there.”

Source | Sport

The Brazilian was quick to thank his captain for his gesture after the match.

“The penalty has come naturally. Leo’s gesture shows how great it is,” he said.

“Thanks to Leo, for letting me kick the penalty, that’s good for the confidence of the group,” he said.

”We knew that to overcome, we had to be involved from the beginning.”

Source | Barca TV

Coutinho nodded home his second of the night after the break and now has eight for the season in all competitions for Barca.