Phillipe Coutinho says he will take ‘personal satisfaction’ should Barcelona beat Manchester United in the Champions League quarter-finals.
The Spanish giants travel to face United at Old Trafford in the first leg of their last eight tie on Wednesday night, looking to reach the last four for the first time since they won the competition in 2014/15.
Coutinho, who spent five seasons in the Premier League at arch-rivals Liverpool, admits beating United would provide him with extra satisfaction.
“It won’t make any difference to me,” he told the Sunday Mirror.
“And, even more than that, it is an incentive to play better and to be even more focused.
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“I know that games against Manchester United are special. I learned what they meant during my time at Liverpool when we lived it so intensely with the fans.
“I have that nailed in my memory and, even though this is a different stage, if Barcelona knock United out of Europe, it will be a double personal satisfaction for me.”
“I know that Liverpool supporters will be with us at United,” he said.
“But they know that later we could see them at Anfield and then, of course, I will be there with Barcelona wanting to win.
“It would be a dream to play at Anfield again, an explosion of different feelings, I’m sure.
“But I have to be honest and say I would have preferred to meet Liverpool only in the final itself.”