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Philippe Coutinho Hails 'Unpredictable' Lionel Messi and Admits Nerves on Barcelona UCL Debut

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Barcelona star Philippe Coutinho has praised teammate Lionel Messi's 'unpredictable' ability after his remarkable performance against PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League.

Five-time Ballon d'Or winner Messi scored a hat-trick as Barcelona thrashed their Dutch opponents 4-0 at the Camp Nou. The goals also saw the 31-year-old break the Champions League record for most hat-tricks.

It was the Argentine star's 48th career hat-trick, and led to Brazilian teammate Coutinho lauding him to reporters following the match.

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Coutinho told the reporters, quoted by Goal: “Messi always shoots and scores goals, which is what is important - to score goals and win games. It’s amazing what he does. The truth is he is an unpredictable player, he always does new things.”

Coutinho himself impressed too, with the 26-year-old collecting his second assist in the season in his European debut for Barcelona.

Despite joining the Catalan club in January last year, Coutinho was unable to feature in the side's European exploits due to being cup-tied from earlier appearances with Liverpool in the same season.

The Brazilian admitted he was very nervous ahead of the match, but had enjoyed the match, saying: "Making my Champions League debut was a unique feeling. I was very anxious before the game. Last year I couldn’t play in this competition and I hope that as time goes by I can improve and help the team.”

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"I hope we can fight for all of the titles and lots of big things. Everything has just begun but we have big objectives and hope to win important things. I hope to help the team every way I can.

“The fans and all the players really want to win. The match against PSV was special, like all games in the Champions League, and also because it was in front of our fans it was a fantastic feeling.”

Barcelona's next Champions League match is against Inter, while they face fellow Catalan side Girona in La Liga on Sunday.

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