Irreplacable! Coutinho will never replace Iniesta at Barcelona

It’s a strong bet that those trying to assess how Philippe Coutinho might flourish at Barcelona this season will first draw conclusions from his goal and assist in last season’s Copa del Rey final, the La Liga winners’ medal already in his possession and the absence of legend Andres Iniesta, whose “space” the Brazilian will be asked to occupy.

There’s another, probably more significant, way to assess Coutinho: his mentality, the greatest value he can now offer the Spanish champions.

In winning La Liga, Ernesto Valverde returned an almost flawless first year’s test score to his employers.

A league and cup Double, a 17-point cushion on rivals Real Madrid, 93 points, 99 league goals and within one match of an unbeaten season. Ultra-robust.

That single defeat, however, was mind-boggling.

Levante, Valencia’s “other” team, had spent most of the season as whipping boys, four games earlier had been fourth-bottom, were still in relegation trouble, and hadn’t registered a home win against Barca since 1964.

With a view to his overload of games and the upcoming World Cup, Valverde rested Lionel Messi altogether (an absolute rarity) and Levante reacted as if they’d been allowed to field three extra men.

They ripped the champions to shreds, scored five times and won a nine-goal thriller on an utterly remarkable night.

Almost as remarkable was Coutinho’s attitude and performance.

It wasn’t just that he scored the first hat trick of his Barcelona career. It was the way that he looked around, took stock, noticed that his teammates’ self-confidence was dipping in Messi’s absence and then stepped forward into the responsibility vacuum.

No elite athlete likes to think of a historic defeat to be his signature match.

And Coutinho should certainly produce many more moments like his best-supporting actor role to Iniesta’s “Oscar” quality adios in the Copa del Rey final. Those will, in due course, supersede his Levante performance.

Beyond Coutinho being a technically gifted, marketable and Nike-backed footballer, it’s that glimpse of someone willing to step up to the plate not simply in the permanent absence of Iniesta but when Messi is off form, rested or suspended that truly tantalises.

Messi started from the bench as Vincenzo Montella’s team treated Barca like rag dolls.

Sevilla’s 2-0 lead until the 88th minute looked not only unassailable but about three or four short of what they should have scored.

Coutinho fought for the team, found a foothold in the game and wound up setting up Messi’s brilliant 90th-minute equaliser.

Coutinho wasn’t able to play Champions League football for his new club last season and, let’s be clear, we are not talking about a soccer Messiah here.

This isn’t making a case that however strongly he plays, however much he finds a turbo-charge in his second season at the Camp Nou, Coutinho will either reach Messi levels or become a candidate to carry the team on his back.

Coutinho has the game, the mentality, the energy, the ambition and the magic to be part of the solution.

It’s quite an ask: “Start the process of showing how Barca can evade Messi dependence.”

But those who think that the simplistic equation is that Coutinho is here to just replace what Barca have lost with Iniesta miss two points.

One, Coutinho is the closest thing Barcelona have, or are going to get in the near future, to the style and importance of Messi’s goals and assists. Moments of genius, vision and improvisation — moments that can break vital, rather than routine, contests.

As good as Coutinho is he has not been trained in that Johan Cruyff/Pep Guardiola school of playing, and while he can adapt to it now, he’ll never master its intricacies to Iniesta’s level.