Valverde: What I like about Coutinho is that he's daring
The Barcelona coach defended the Brazilian after he missed two chances
Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde defender Philippe Coutinho after he missed two chances in the win against Girona on Sunday.
Coutinho missed a one-on-one in the first half, denied by goalkeeper Bono, then saw a late effort swept off the line after he rounded the keeper.
"What I like about Coutinho is that he's daring and he's always prepared to take the opposition on," Valverde said after the game.
"He makes things happen. After that, sometimes things go your way, sometimes they don't. He's had good chances and the fact that he's getting into those positions one-on-one with the goalkeeper is really good. He's not converted those chances this time, but he will."
GIRONA PRESSURE
Valverde admitted that Barcelona "had problems in the first half and early in the second half because Girona were pressing really high. Sometimes we weren't able to break through their press. Losing the ball in those positions led to clear chances for them."
In that sense, he said the introduction of Arthur Melo was key "because he has the capacity to keep the ball."
COPA DEL REY
After beating Girona to go five points clear at the top of La Liga again, Valverde says Barca's objective is now to get through in the Copa del Rey against Sevilla on Wednesday. They lost the first leg of the quarterfinal tie 2-0.
The coach added: "Now, we're going to focus on recovering and start thinking about Wednesday. Our intention is to get through. The other day we made changes in the first leg thinking of today's game and I think Girona did the same.
"We have three games this week in six days, with a really important one against Valencia on Saturday. But it's true that now what interests us is the Copa."
