Luke Ayling has told BBC Live’s coverage of Leeds United’s 3-3 draw against Aston Villa that it was a “good learning curve” to come up against Philippe Coutinho. The Brazilian scored one, and created another on Wednesday.
Coutinho, 29, has made an instant impact at Aston Villa – scoring on his debut against Manchester United in a 2-2 draw. On Wednesday night, he took his goal involvements to four in just his third appearance.
Not only did the Barcelona loanee net his second goal of the season for Villa, but he also created two – finding Jacob Ramsey on two occasions. The Villa academy product is thriving with Coutinho, scoring twice against Leeds.
Leeds are renowned for their man-marking system and it was Ayling’s job to keep Coutinho quiet. While he might have failed to do that, he reflected on his battle with the Brazilian – and labelled it a “good learning curve”.
“No!,” Ayling said, when asked if he enjoyed marking Coutinho. “Na, we worked hard to get here. When you face players like that it’s a good learning curve. I stuck to my task. I felt I did alright as the game went on.”
Ayling on Coutinho: Leeds star will not face many better than Villa ace
The question mark surrounding Coutinho when he joined Villa, was whether he could reignite the form that made him one of the best players in the world at Liverpool – and early on in his Barcelona spell.
Judging by his first three appearances, under Steven Gerrard, he is certainly returning to that form. Of course, the Leeds style allowed Coutinho to thrive. Ayling will not have to worry about facing much better, than him.
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