They bought him to be decisive and that is exactly what Philippe Coutinho was for Barcelona on Thursday night at Mestalla.
Until his appearance as a half-time substitute Valencia’s grand plan was working. They knew once Barca got their away goal it would be game over, so they needed to reach the last 15 minutes at least at 0-0 when they could take a step forward and look for the equaliser.
They had defended well and Lionel Messi was being bounced around the pitch by various Valencia players and none of them, aside from forward Rodrigo, had been booked for the foul.
Philippe Coutinho celebrates scoring his first goal for Barcelona in their win over Valencia
Coutinho’s friend and former Liverpool team-mate Luis Suarez was quick to congratulate him
They had the outstanding Gonacalo Guedes to come on and they had the Mestalla still believing they could get their first win against Barcelona on their own ground in 10 years.
Then Coutinho came on and scored with his first touch.
The important thing about the goal was that he knew where to run. That has not always been the case in the first few weeks of his time in Spain.
He has been played wide left in a 4-4-2 then wide right in a 4-4-2 and because Barcelona’s formations are so fluid, regardless of where he has started he has ended up looking a little confused.
Players joining Barcelona in the past have said that they needed to ‘learn how to play football again’.
Coutinho gets a high-five from Lionel Messi after scoring a crucial goal at the Mestalla
Suarez celebrates a goal for Liverpool with Coutinho during their first year at Liverpool
But in the second half on Thursday night – and playing on the right of a front three where he often plays for Brazil – Coutinho darted to the back post and stretched to steer Luis Suarez’s cross over the line.
It was fitting that it was Suarez helping Coutinho score his first goal.
The two were always on the same wavelength at Liverpool both on and off the pitch. There is a famous picture of them buying the beer and snacks together in a supermarket for a party while at Liverpool.
Suarez admitted in his book: ‘My family had come from Uruguay, my wife’s family had come from Barcelona and Lucas Leiva and Philippe Coutinho had their families here too. There were loads of people and it just happened that it was my job to buy the drinks. People must have thought: look at the way this guy lives.’
Suarez was best pals with the Brazilian team-mate off the pitch on Merseyside and he also set up Coutinho’s first goal for Liverpool in a game against Swansea in 2013. He has helped him move to, and settle in at, Barcelona every step of the way.
‘We are good friends and he wrote me a lot of messages telling me about the city and the club. The more he told me, the more it made me want to come here. He even did some house-hunting for me, he is a very close friend,’ Coutinho said of Suarez at his presentation.
Suarez and Coutinho were pictured buying drinks in a shop during their time at Liverpool
Suarez and Coutinho celebrate one of the Brazilian’s goal for Liverpool against Spurs in 2014
The two now live in the same exclusive Bellamar neighbourhood of Costa Brava beach town Castelldefels. His hill-top home overlooking the Mediterranean is close to his former Liverpool team-mate and to Leo Messi and Spain Basketball star Pau Gasol.
His wife Aine and his daughter Maria have been made to feel at home by the young families of his team-mates. And according to El Mundo, Coutinho’s mother Esmeralda Correia has also settled in to the area.
For all that Coutinho’s transition off the pitch has been smooth it is still at his other new home 12 miles up the coast where he has to really settle in.
The Camp Nou, or ‘Messi’s back garden’, as it’s also referred, has proved too daunting for many big signing over the years.
Everything suggests that things will be different for Coutinho. His first goal in a Barcelona shirt put his team into the Spanish Cup final. As starts go, it doesn’t get much better than that.