Barcelona striker Luis Suarez has jumped to the defence of Philippe Coutinho and blamed injuries in the wake of the 2018 FIFA World Cup for any struggles his team-mate has had this season.
Coutinho was expected to impress at the Camp Nou this season—his first full campaign at the club—but hasn't had nearly the impact many would have expected.
Suarez spoke to Sport's Didac Peyret and touched on Ousmane Dembele's improvements this term as another factor: "He came from the World Cup, where he was a starter, but later had an injury and that made it difficult for him.