Philippe Coutinho was picked to start Barcelona s Champions League semi-final first leg against his former club Liverpool, who selected fellow Brazil international Roberto Firmino on the bench.
Coutinho has garnered mixed reviews since swapping Merseyside for Catalonia in a reported €160million move in January 2018 but, following a stunning goal against Manchester United in the previous round, he was granted a spot alongside Lionel Messi and another ex-Red Luis Suarez in Barca s front three at Camp Nou.
Liverpool s own feted trident were not all named from the start, however, with Firmino among the substitutes after sitting out last Friday s 5-0 win over Huddersfield Town with an ankle knock.
Explaining his decision to be cautious with Firmino, Klopp told BT Sport: That s how it is with the short periods between the games – you cannot be sure.
Bobby wants to [play] and the medical department told me yes, it s good but then you have to make sure – I m not sure if [he is able to play] 90 minutes or whatever.
So he doesn t have to start, that s why we start like we start. Bobby is on the bench, that s good news.
Naby Keita was set to line up on the left of Jurgen Klopp s attack alongside Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane, while James Milner got the nod to start alongside Fabinho and Georginio Wijnaldum in midfield.
TEAM NEWS
Our line-up to face …
— Liverpool FC (@LFC)
Club captain Jordan Henderson had to be content with a place among the substitutes alongside Trent Alexander-Arnold, the England right-back dropped in favour of Joe Gomez.
Klopp stated that a desire to include fresh legs in his line-up as Liverpool battle for top honours at home and abroad was behind the changes made to his midfield and defence.
Hendo played five games in a row, for example, and we play [again] on Saturday and Tuesday, he said.
Millie didn t play for two games so it was clear we had to use him. Fabinho didn t play for two games so it was clear we had to use him. Naby didn t have that many games during the whole season, Gini didn t play all the games.
That s why midfield, where it s really intense, is where we have to make sure we have legs there.
Klopp added: It s the same for Trent. It was clear when Joe would be available again that there would be a game and I think today it makes absolute sense in that position.
For Trent it s good, he can refresh a little bit, there are important games to come. But the first thing we wanted to make was a good line-up for [Wednesday] and for a good line-up you need legs and that s what we tried to make sure of.
Barca head coach Ernesto Valverde expressed a pre-match wish to disrupt the supply line to Liverpool s attackers and Arturo Vidal being preferred in midfield to playmaker Arthur appears to be in line with those sentiments.
XI Barça
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona)
