5 players who destroyed their parent clubs when on loan
In an ever-evolving sport such as football, over the years, and clubs found new, creative ways to make use of transfer windows to deal with deficiencies in the squad. Be it purely on a temporary basis (with no purchase option) to help give a player valuable minutes or a try-before-you-buy deal with an obligation to purchase a player; it has proved to be a valuable option.
There have been many high-profile loan deals conducted in the last few years, including those of Kylian Mbappe to PSG, James Rodriguez to Bayern Munich, Carlos Tevez to Manchester United, and many more. More recently, Barcelona's record signing Philippe Coutinho joined this list as well, after being shipped away to Bayern after falling out of favour at the Nou Camp.
It's always a strange experience for a player to play against their parent club. Many players in the past have done so with their loan clubs and, more importantly, inflicted defeat and misery over their permanent employers. They have come back to haunt their former clubs in devastating fashion.
Here, we take a look at five such instances, beginning with the most recent such scenario.
#5 Philippe Coutinho vs Barcelona | UCL 2019/20
Philippe Coutinho, who moved from Liverpool to the Catalans to fulfil his dream, became the most expensive Barcelona player in history after a move worth over €140m. However, he quickly fell out of favour at the club, leading to him leaving on loan to Germany.
Barcelona were on the receiving end of one of the most clinical performances in UCL history from Hansi Flick's Bayern Munich in Portugal. The round of 16 tie was explosive right from the get-go as Bayern found the net thrice in the opening 20 minutes — albeit one of them was a comical own goal scored by David Alaba.
There was hope for the Blaugrana after Luis Suarez scored their second goal, bringing the scoreline to 4-2 at the time. However, that sense of hope didn't last too long as the ruthless Bavarians were right on top of proceedings. The knockout punch, though, was delivered by one of their own.
Coutinho was brought on for a mere 15 minutes and helped add three goals to Bayern's tally in that period — setting up Robert Lewandowski's 14th UCL goal of the campaign, and then scoring their seventh and eighth goals of the game. His devastating cameo added insult to injury on what was a truly shambolic night for Barcelona.
#4 Kingsley Coman vs Juventus | UCL 2015/16
Bayern Munich have shown a liking to utilising loan deals to their benefit, and have conducted some of the most high-profile loan deals in the recent past. Kingsley Coman was one such player who the Bavarians took from Juventus on a two-year loan deal before signing him permanently later on.
Pep Guardiola's German champions were then drawn against Max Allegri's Juventus in the round of 16 of the 2015/16 UCL campaign. The first leg was a thrilling 2-2 encounter in Turin which saw the home club recover from a two-goal deficit to set up a blockbuster game at the Allianz Arena.
Juventus took an early lead and were 2-0 up within half an hour of the game after Paul Pogba and Juan Cuadrado found the back of the net. Bayern Munich pegged one back with just over 15 minutes left to play, and equalised in the dying embers of the game. Extra-time beckoned, and Thiago finally found the breakthrough to give Bayern a 5-4 lead on aggregate.
As the Bianconeri threw everything they had to try and recover salvage a goal, things went from bad to worse. Coman — fresh off the bench — ripped the Italian defence apart and scored a cracking goal to knock his parent club out of the UCL.
Also read: Top 10 players with the most assists in Europe this season (2019-20)