ENGLAND, May 24: Former Liverpool ace Philippe Coutinho and Lionel Messi are railing against their Barcelona team-mates when it comes to the Reds chances in the Champions League final against Real Madrid.
Coutinho originally wanted to join the Catalan giants last summer but after being made to stay put at the start of the season he quit Anfield for the Camp Nou in January after forcing through a £142million switch.
Why Philippe Coutinho left Liverpool for Barcelona
While the Brazilian may now well be in two minds over the timing of his switch given that he could have been playing in this game with an opportunity to lift the European Cup as a Liverpool player, he has nevertheless tipped his old pals to triumph in Kiev.
According to Spanish outlet Diario Gol, Coutinho has told fellow South American Lionel Messi that he is backing his former colleagues to win as he expects Jurgen Klopp’s side to take the game to Real Madrid.
And after being given the inside track on the Reds, the Argentinian superstar also reckons they can deny his great La Liga rivals a third straight victory in the competition.
However, the pair are believed to be at odds with the rest of the Barca dressing room who fear that Zinedine Zidane’s team will swat Liverpool aside.
