Dazzling Dembele draws Coutinho praise
No Lionel Messi was no problem for Barcelona as Luis Suarez and Philippe Coutinho got the goals at Malaga and Ousmane Dembele excelled.
Philippe Coutinho credited Ousmane Dembele for helping to fill the void left by Lionel Messi as Barcelona cruised to a 2-0 win over 10-man Malaga in LaLiga.
Messi missed the game following the birth of his third son and first-half goals from Luis Suarez and Coutinho saw Ernesto Valverde's men take control of the contest before Malaga winger Samu was sent off for a dreadful lunge on Jordi Alba.
Coutinho produced a wonderfully inventive backheel finish from Dembele's 28th-minute pass and the France winger, whose first season in Spain has been ruined by injury, started to unfurl his full repertoire as the game went on.
"I've always said he's a fantastic footballer," the Brazil playmaker told television reporters. "He showed it again today, he played really well.