Coutinho's only goal against Manchester United to date could not have been better timed.

Liverpool led 2-0 at the halfway stage of their Europa League last-16 tie with their fierce rivals in spring 2016, but as the opening 45 minutes of the second leg drew to a close the conclusion was far from foregone.

Anthony Martial's spot-kick had halved the aggregate deficit and persuaded the Old Trafford crowd that bragging rights on the European stage might still come to be theirs by the end of the evening.

Enter, the Magician.

Collecting the ball on the left hand side, Coutinho burst around his marker, sped towards the near post and deceived David de Gea with a dink of daring brilliance over the goalkeeper's head. Game over.

As those at the stadium and watching on television – indeed, his own teammates too – wondered how he'd pulled off the trick, the Brazilian scurried from the scene to celebrate a goal any of his countrymen past or present would be proud of.