Once upon a time, Philippe Coutinho was one of European football's most feared little magicians. Liverpool made him a star, Barcelona paid €135 million to bring him in, and the Brazilian international looked set to spend the best years of his career among the game's elite.Then came the fall.##LINKED_NEWS_62719##Coutinho was never quite the same player at Barcelona. The dream move turned into a nightmare, the price tag became a burden, and the Brazilian eventually drifted through Bayern Munich, Aston Villa and a series of loan spells, slowly disappearing from the centre of football's attention.But forgotten for good? Not yet.Now 34, Coutinho has returned to Brazil, where he is wearing the famous black-and-white of Santos and sharing a dressing room with Neymar. On Saturday night, he finally made his debut, and it came in one of Brazilian football's biggest fixtures, away to Sao Paulo.##LINKED_NEWS_55453##Santos came from behind to win 2-1 in the rearranged 21st-round clash, and while Coutinho did not get his name on the scoresheet, his first 45 minutes in the Santos shirt offered a reminder of the footballer he can still be.Introduced at half-time, the former Liverpool and Barcelona star initially appeared to be merely finding his rhythm. By the final whistle, however, he had quietly produced one of the most influential performances on the pitch.19.00: (4.10) Croatia (3.50) England (1.90)His passing was almost flawless: 18 successful passes from 19 attempts. And then came the moment that mattered – Coutinho received the ball, used his first touch to take his marker out of the game and immediately spotted Everton making a run into space. The pass was perfect. Everton raced forward before finding Gabriel Barbosa, who did the rest, brilliantly turning the move into the winner.##LINKED_NEWS_54051##Perhaps the first glimpse of the old Coutinho. The victory lifted Santos to seventh place with 31 points, five behind fifth-placed Bahia and the Copa Libertadores qualifying places.