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Monday, Jun 16, 2025
The 38-year-old came off the bench late in the game and soon made Barca pay for squandering several chances by acrobatically lashing an unstoppable shot into the net in the 89th minute.
Coutinho will wear the number 10 shirt previously worn by Dutchman Arjen Robben, who retired at the end of last season.
The Portuguese superstar added that he and Messi have dominated football for the past 15 years like no other player in the history of the sport.
It was an utterly dominant performance from the La Liga leaders which avenged their 4-3 loss at home to Betis in November and took them on to 66 points after 28 games.
Valencia reached the final for the first time in 11 years by beating Real Betis 1-0.
Barca reached the last eight of Europe's elite competition for the 12th consecutive season and will be Spain's only representatives in Friday's quarter-final draw.
Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez were largely kept quiet in a shy display from the champions in which their defenders Gerard Pique and Clement Lenglet were the heroes instead, bravely putting their bodies in the way to snuff out Madrid.
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