Barcelona midfielder Philippe Coutinho has played down comparisons to club legend Andres Iniesta, calling the Spaniard a “genius” and saying he will have to improve to emulate him.
Per Robert Summerscales of MailOnline, the Brazil international didn’t hide his admiration for Iniesta, who left the Catalans for Vissel Kobe at the end of last season
“Andres was a genius, comparisons between us are tough. I just want to be myself and win as much as I can here.
“I try to work hard regardless of my position and I work hard on every aspect of my game, I feel more of an attacking midfielder and I am comfortable on the left as this is where I’ve played the most.
My goal is to improve at everything, and if I want to be like Andres Iniesta I have to improve a lot.”
Coutinho joined the Blaugrana in January 2018 and has become Iniesta’s direct replacement this season. All of his minutes have come in a central-midfield role, compared to his more attacking position during his Liverpool days.
With Sergio Busquets and Ivan Rakitic plugging the holes in midfield, Coutinho has ample opportunities to run forward and dictate play in attack. But with the likes of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Ousmane Dembele playing in front of him, there are far less scoring opportunities than there were at Anfield.
The 26-year-old has taken to the role well, however, and his importance to the side was illustrated during the weekend. He and Busquets were rested in the match against Real Sociedad ahead of the UEFA Champions League showdown with PSV Eindhoven, but manager Ernesto Valverde brought him on at half-time, as the team were losing. They ended up winning 2-1.
For years, Iniesta was the gold standard for midfield play, and many use his prime years to measure others by:
He spent his entire professional career with the Blaugrana until May of this year, when he made the switch to Japan at the age of 34.
He won nine La Liga titles and four Champions League trophies with Barcelona, while also winning the World Cup once and European Championship twice with Spain.
Even after Coutinho arrived in January, Valverde continued to use the veteran midfielder extensively. Coutinho’s play improved as the season wore on, however, and by summer, he was ready to take over the mantle.
Mohamed Salah, Cristiano Ronaldo and Luka Modric are equals, according to Egypt coach Javier Aguirre.
Salah’s impressive debut season at Liverpool received many plaudits as well as accolades, including 2017-18 Premier League Player of the Year
Weeks ago, the Champions League finalist was beaten to Uefa Men’s Best Player of the Year award by Modric, with Ronaldo coming second. And the trio, with other nominees, are up again for Fifa’s The Best 2018 men’s player award.
The Pharaohs new coach sees them as equals, and hopes Salah becomes the second African player ever to lift the prestigious award.
“I think that the three players are equal, none of them is above the other, but there can be only one winner. Hopefully, it’ll be Salah,”
This season, Salah, who broke the Premier League record with 32 goals, has barely kicked on from his awe-inspiring debut campaign at Liverpool.
But his national team coach believes it is a phase not strange to prolific goalscorers like Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
“This is just the beginning. The scorers go through streaks, suddenly they score three goals in one match.
“Scorers like Salah, Ronaldo or (Lionel) Messi can be three or four games without a netting goal, and then they let go.”
Salah and his Liverpool teammates open their Uefa Champions League campaign with a clash against Paris Saint-Germain at Anfield on Tuesday evening.