Yesterday, Barcelona beat Sevilla during Copa del Rey 2018-19 and made way into the semi-finals where the skipper of the team Lionel Messi asked under fire Philip Coutinho to take a strike for a penalty during Copa del Rey 2018-19. The ball landed perfectly into the nets at the Camp Nou. As the hosts sailed into the semi-finals with a 6-3 aggregate win and the gesture was lauded by Philip Coutinho. Ivan Rakitic, Sergio Roberto, Luiz Suarez and Lionel Messi were the ones to score the goals. Lionel Messi Scores One of the Best Counter-Attacking Goals As Barcelona Beat Sevilla 6-1 Copa del Rey 2018-19.

Coutinho also netted a goal in the 53rd minute. Messi’s gesture was lauded by Coutinho during the press conference. “I tried everything and nothing was coming off. Leo encouraged me to take the penalty and that worked to help me gain confidence," said Coutinho. "It was not anything we had prepared, it was very kind on his part. The gesture shows how great he is as a person. It was a very special night for Barcelona fans everywhere; we knew that we had to come back after the bad result at the Sanchez-Pizjuan, we played very well and we deserved it.”

Check out the Coutinho’s goal below:

Messi also spoke to the media about allowing him to take the strike. “Coutinho had scored a penalty against Levante and he wanted to take it," Messi said told Sport. “We talked about it, so he took it and I am happy because the comeback started there,” he further explained.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 01, 2019 09:07 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).