Philippe Coutinho Admits Disappointment After Levante Defeat

Barcelona midfielder Philippe Coutinho has expressed his disappointment after the club were not able to maintain their unbeaten league run. The Blaugrana had not lost any of their previous 36 games in the Spanish La Liga and they appeared on the course to go invincible before succumbing to an away defeat at Levante.

From the start, Levante were on the front foot with a couple of goals from Emmanuel Boateng but Coutinho managed to pull one back prior to half-time. However, following the interval, Boateng completed his hat-trick in a three-goal burst for the hosts and this saw Barcelona trailing 5-1 before they eventually lost by a 5-4 scoreline.

Speaking after the game, Coutinho was frustrated with the club’s inability to go unbeaten through the season but he is nevertheless content with the success achieved in terms of a domestic double, he said: “We wanted to end up as undefeated champions but the truth is they put five past us and deserved to win. We feel bad in defeat and lose the unbeaten record but do not forget that we won the league."

Meanwhile, teammate Sergio Busquets suggested that the result would not tarnish the club’s triumph in the Spanish La Liga, although they do not have many positives to carry forward for the final game of the season, he said: "It doesn't tarnish what we have achieved that we won't finish unbeaten. It's difficult to take something positive from the match when the score five goals against you."

Barcelona had been without leading performer Lionel Messi for the Levante defeat but the decision was purely made to keep the Argentine afresh ahead of his World Cup prospects in Russia. Argentina have always been among the contenders for the global tournament and Messi will be hoping to go one better than the previous edition in 2014 where they finished runners-up to Germany.