Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde says Philippe Coutinho could start against Alaves on Sunday.

The Brazilian is now knocking on the door for a first start with his new club, something which Valverde suggested as a possibility ahead of Sunday's match.

"He made his debut the other day, it's now possible he could be a starter against Alaves," he admitted.

"We will assess him tomorrow, it's not positive to look at ourselves and talk about how good we are and how bad other teams are.

"There is a gap, however everything can change, we have to keep focused."