Bayern Munich coach Hansi Flick has affirmed that Philippe Coutinho will be given an opportunity “to show his quality” for the club against Hoffenheim
Bayern Munich coach Hansi Flick has given an affirmation that the 27-year-old winger Philippe Coutinho will begin against TSG Hoffenheim this weekend, stating that it will give Coutinho a chance “to show his quality” in the absence of leading scorer Robert Lewandowski due to injury
Speaking of numbers, Coutinho has made 20 Bundesliga appearances for the defending champions this season ever since he joined after the club took him on loan from Barcelona last summer, starting 13 times.
Out of the total games he has played, he was in the first playing XI against Paderborn last week, and as a substitute for the previous four, with the in-form Thomas Müller chosen to be at in the No.10 role. It was the knee injury Lewandowski suffered while playing against Chelsea in the UEFA Champions League, gave room to Countino for him to score.
“Philippe will definitely start,” the Bayern boss said at his pre-game media briefing ahead of Saturday’s visit to Hoffenheim. “The game will give him the chance to integrate himself into the team. He’s always very good at training. I hope the dam breaks and he shows the quality he’s got.”
It will be interesting to watch how Bayern will be facing against Hoffenheim: When Müller, Serge Gnabry and youngster Joshua Zirkzee are all potentially to take Lewandowski’s place at the sharp end of manager Flick’s chosen 4-2-3-1 formation, but the 55-year-old indicated the team’s approach would not change a great deal.
“Coutinho’s a different kind of player [to Lewandowski and Gnabry]. We’ll need to make sure we find the player in the best position upfront during the game so that we can turn a good scoring chance into a great one. I’ll need to take a bit of a risk in the final third.”
Bayern will seal the top position at the points table, one point clear of the second-placed RB Leipzig, who will be facing Bayer Leverkusen on Sunday.
