Liverpool players take trip to Nou Camp to watch Barcelona with injured Philippe Coutinho left behind
Brazilian is desperate to be ready to play in crunch New Year’s Eve clash with Manchester City
PHILIPPE COUTINHO has been going it alone while his Reds team-mates got a reminder of why their Bournemouth collapse must be a one-off.
Coutinho, 24, stayed behind in Liverpool to step up his fight to be fit for the New Year’s Eve clash with Manchester City, while the rest of the squad were in Barcelona on a team-bonding trip.
Jurgen Klopp took his team to Barca’s Champions League clash with Borussia Monchengladbach last night to show them what they are missing.
Their 4-3 defeat at the Vitality Stadium raised new doubts over whether they possess the killer instinct to sustain a title challenge.
But Kop boss Klopp, whose side host West Ham next on Sunday, dismissed those concerns.
He said: “On a journey like we are, there is no easy way — it is not without knocks. But in these moments you can get stronger.
“That’s what we will be after this experience — and in the next game, we can show that. We were clearly the better team. But there is nothing I can say which is smart enough to pretend the result is not like it is. We have to learn.”
NEWPORT COUNTY can secure their immediate future if they beat Plymouth on Tuesday.
The Exiles will travel to Anfield next month should they overcome their League Two rivals in their FA Cup second-round replay.
And Newport chairman Gavin Foxall admitted: “For a club like ours it would secure the future for a season or two at least. It would boost the coffers enormously.”