Liverpool midfielder Philippe Coutinho has stressed the importance of tomorrow night’s Europa League encounter in Bordeaux, emphasising on focus amid a bad run of results for the Merseyside club.
The Reds suffered their second successive defeat in the Premier League at the weekend when they lost 3-1 to fierce rivals Manchester United, a game which Coutinho was forced to sit sit out following a red card suspension.
The Brazilian is back in the fold for the club’s trip to France, as he believes a good start in the second tier European competition is important and the entire team is focussed on getting a good result from the away tie.
“It’s a very important game as it’s our first in the Europa League,” said Coutinho to Liverpool’s official website.
“We know how important it is to have a good start in a competition like this and everyone’s focused on doing well in this game.”
Coutinho is wary of the negativity surrounding the club early doors into the 2015/16 season, but is keen for them to focus on matters on the pitch as he feels doing things right on the pitch can help get over the current bad phase with good results.
“After two consecutive defeats, we’re conscious there’s going to be more pressure from the outside – we have to do things right on the pitch so we can achieve good results,” he added.
Liverpool are in a group comprising of Bordeaux, Sion and Rubin Kazan and a good away result against the Ligue 1 outfit tomorrow could stand the club in good stead over their fate in the competition.
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