Coutinho sale launched Liverpool European elite return

Liverpool have grown used to seeing their prized assets snatched away by Spanish giants over the past decade, but the sale of Philippe Coutinho to Barcelona has helped lay the foundations for a successful rebuild at Anfield.

Coutinho, who has struggled to match the expectations of his £142 million ($183 million) price tag, will come up against his former team at the Camp Nou on Wednesday as Liverpool travel to Catalonia for the first leg of their Champions League semi-final on the back of a 10-game winning run.

Liverpool learned their lesson from the departures of Xabi Alonso and Javier Mascherano to Madrid and Barcelona that quickly dismantled the title-challenging team put together by Rafael Benitez and the devastating effect of losing Luis Suarez to Barca had five years ago.

With the Spanish champions desperate for star power when Neymar walked out to join Paris Saint-Germain in August 2017, the Reds hierarchy dug their heels in and drove the price up for the Brazilian.

Coutinho finally got his dream move in January 2018, but by that time the centrepiece to the construction that has seen Jurgen Klopp reawake the five-time European champions as a force on the continent had...