Philippe Coutinho has revealed the words running through his mind as he bore down on David de Gea at Old Trafford on Thursday night were simply: ‘Why not?’

The Brazil playmaker netted a memorable solo goal in first-half stoppage-time to put Liverpool 3-1 ahead on aggregate after Anthony Martial had given Manchester United hope by scoring from the penalty spot.

Footage has since emerged online of Coutinho producing a similar effort in training for Inter Milan four years ago – and the man himself admits such memories were in his thoughts as he danced beyond Guillermo Varela to go clean through on De Gea.

He told UEFA.com: "I had the chance to be face to face with De Gea and I've tried this kind of thing before in training, so I thought 'why not?’.

"Luckily, it came off. You could say that this was one of my best goals in a Liverpool shirt, but once again, all that counts is the team, and this evening the team performed at a very high level, creating several chances and showing how strong we are.

"Our morale is really high due to the 10 games without losing [in the Europa League] and this success against Manchester United, after a good game at home last week. We are building confidence to achieve big things for the club."