Brazil great Rivaldo admonishes Coutinho’s celebration against Man Utd

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Barcelona legend Rivaldo has strongly criticized the gestures towards the fans Philippe Coutinho made as part of his celebration upon scoring against Manchester United earlier this week. The Brazil great advised his compatriot to refrain himself from doing so in the future and urged him to step up on his game.

Coutinho arrived from Liverpool in January last year for a then reportedly, record fee of €142m. His inconsistencies have weighed down upon him leading him to come under heavy fire from fans. However, the winger scored a brilliant net buster from 25-yards concluding a dominant 3-0 win over Manchester United in the Champions League quarter final on Tuesday, but his celebration has the fans talking about him yet again.

The Brazil international celebrated his goal by facing the home fans, putting his fingers in his ears and closing his eyes.

Brazil and Barcelona legend Rivaldo has come to criticize his compatriot for the gesture saying Coutinho should not have done that.

“It was not a good gesture. He scored a great goal, but it’s never good to do something like that to the fans,” Rivaldo told Marca.

Rivaldo suggested the 26-year old winger let his performances do the talking instead.

He said:

“The supporters criticize him because they know he has to give more. I don’t know what happened to him during the week, what he read in the newspapers or saw on television, but you have to keep working, think about the next game and score goals.”

However, with transfer talks in place, the former Brazil international encouraged Coutinho to stay at Camp Nou despite being not as successful as originally planned.

“I would stay. He is a great player who cannot leave without being a Barcelona success because things haven’t gone well.”

Barcelona inch closer to lifting another La Liga trophy, and are through to the semi-finals of the Champions League where they face Premier League leaders and previous runner-ups Liverpool.

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