Farewell to a Barcelona Legend | Luis Suarez
- Suarez joined Barcelona in 2014
- The legendary striker spent 6 years at the club, winning every trophy at his disposal and scoring in every competition he played in
- He left as the third top goalscorer in the club's history
One of the Best - Premier League Golden Boot
Luis Suarez was tearing up the premier league; after a few very successful seasons, he spent the 2013/2014 season driving Liverpool into second place with a team nowhere near the quality they have now. Suarez scored 31 goals in 33 games, making him the top scorer in the league 10 goals over second place. This also won him the PGA Premier League Player of the Season award and the FWA Footballer of the Year Award.
📸 Suarez winning the awards for his stellar season
With all of his personal success, his season ended in heartbreak. Liverpool were on course to win the league, and they infamously 'slipped' at the end of the season. Suarez's year ended in heartbreak, as he was seen crying on the field before he left. However, his year was about to get worse.
A Dagger in the Barcelona Move
Barcelona was looking to buy a striker to partner Messi and Neymar up top. The names that were being linked were Sergio Aguero, Gonzalo Higuain, and Luis Suarez. Aguero seemed the main target and all signs pointed to him becoming the new Barcelona striker, with reports stating that this is because he was very close friends with Leo. However, the World Cup in 2014 changed everything. Aguero and Higuain both led lackluster World Cups, with the former making five appearances and scoring 0 goals, and the latter not doing much better with seven appearances and one goal. Luis Suarez outscored both of them in just two games, which seemed to be the deciding factor in swaying Barcelona towards the Uruguayan. However, although Suarez's football was impressive in the World Cup, his other actions were on the contrary. In the third group game against Italy, Suarez infamously bit Chiellini on the shoulder, an act that projected him as a horrible person and could have ruined his legacy.
📸 Suarez's move to Barcelona looked done as he bit Chiellini in the World Cup
Later on in his career, Suarez revealed that this was the toughest period of his life. He revealed how he immediately knew the consequences he would receive and his image for his family, and that he struggled to celebrate Uruguay's win because of it. He stated that he felt that his move to Barcelona would fall through because of it, as the striker was banned for football for many months. Furthermore, Suarez had a villian reputation in football for various different incidents. A move to Barcelona would provide a fresh beginning, a chance to move away from his past issues. Regardless of the controversy, Barcelona maintained their strong interest in the striker. On the 11th of July 2014, Suarez joined Barcelona for a fee of 80M euros.
📸 Suarez posing in the Barcelona shirt for the first time
MSN - The Greatest Attack in Football History
📸 Suarez making his first Barcelona appearance
Suarez made his first Barcelona appearance in a clash with Real Madrid on the 25th of October, 2014. He set up Neymar's first goal in the El Clasico defeat. His first month was difficult, as it took Suarez a whole month of action to get his first Barcelona goal; however, it seemed that this goal just opened the floodgates.
As Barcelona pushed on in the 2014-2015 season, Suarez formed a formidable partnership with Messi and Neymar, creating the deadly trio of 'MSN'.
📸 The Greatest Attack in Football History
As the months progressed, he put in a few great performances such as his 2 goals vs Manchester City, or his game-winner vs Real Madrid. However, his most notable performance game against PSG in the quarter-finals, where the Uruguayan scored two amazing solo goals and nutmegged David Luiz twice.
📸 Suarez's MOTM performance vs PSG: Highlights
On the second of May, Suarez scored his first hattrick for Barcelona in a 8-0 win against Cordoba. The final game of his impressive first season was in the Champions League Final, and Suarez grabbed the opportunity as he scored Barcelona's second goal to put them back in the lead against Juventus. Suarez lifted the CL trophy with a huge smile on his face; he scored 25 goals and assisted 20 in just 43 games with Barcelona, which are very impressive numbers in his first season.
📸 Suarez with the CL trophy
Winning a treble in his first season was a perfect start, however on an individual basis, Suarez was about to reach a whole new level.
The 2015-2016 Season
The following season, Barcelona won the La Liga and Copa del Rey, having been controversially knocked out of the Champions League by Atletico Madrid. Suarez was one of Barcelona's best players, winning the Golden boot, being the joint-top assister with Messi, and making his way into the La Liga Team of the Season. His goal and assist tally reached Messi and Ronaldo levels, and some could argue even better as he eclipsed them both. He scored 40 goals and made 16 assists in just 35 appearances in La Liga, he scored 8 goals and made 3 assists in just 9 CL appearances, he scored 5 goals in 2 games in the Club World Cup, and scored 5 goals and an assist in 4 appearances in the cup. This brings him to a total of 58 goals and 20 assists in just 50 games! These numbers and up on Messi and Ronaldo levels, and he deserved to win the Golden Boot.
📸 A GOAT'ed season by Suarez wins him the Golden Boot
Suarez might have hit his peak footballing performance in the last few games of the 2015-2016 season. El Pistolero scored four goals in back-to-back La Liga games, and registered 3 assists as well!! He then went on to score two goals and get a hattrick right after. This version of Luis Suarez might have been the best and closest we have seen a player get to Messi's level in a while. His quickness, acceleration, power, vision, passing, awareness, and finishing made him arguably Barca's best player in the end of the season.
📸 Suarez in the 2015-2016 season
2016-2017: A Tricky Season
Barcelona's 2016-2017 season was a difficult one. They only managed to win the Copa del Rey, having lost the La Liga to bitter rivals Real Madrid and getting knocked out of the CL by Atletico Madrid. The season was mostly quiet, being mostly remembered by the remontada against PSG, and Messi's performance in the 3-2 win over Real Madrid.
📸 Suarez scoring the opening goal in the famous game: Highlights
Suarez was, understandably, not expected to replicate his numbers of the previous season, however he still put up some great numbers. In the same amount of appearances (35), he managed 11 goals less (29), and 3 assists less (13) in the league. While these numbers are impressive, it was mostly his numbers in the Champions League which were dwindling, scoring only 3 goals in 9 CL appearances.
This season also saw the end of MSN, which hampered the squad morale greatly. Replacing Neymar would be a tough feat, and would certaintly take a toll on Suarez's numbers.
📸 MSN with the Champions League trophy
2018-2020: An Ageing Striker
For the last few years of his Barcelona career, Suarez, naturally, lost his speed and quickness. Questions were raised over his fitness, especially with pictures revealing him to be overweight. However, the vintage striker still put up great numbers, scoring 20+ goals in each of his remaining seasons. His numbers were still of Barcelona quality, however it was his work off the ball which was in serious decline. Although he showed signs of his past self in games such as the 5-1 demolition of Real Madrid where he scored a hattrick, in the Champions League is where his performances were poor. The Uruguayan went five years without scoring an away CL goal, which was much needed in games such as Liverpool and Roma. He never managed to end this streak, with his last away goal still being in 2015. Furthermore, he never managed to make the La Liga Team of the Season again.
A Legend Remembered
As his Barcelona career looked to come to an end, Suarez would still often show glimpses of his pure class. His backheel chip against Mallorca won Goal of the Season in La Liga, and regardless of anything, he still was Barca's second top scorer year-after-year. As he departs the club, he leaves being the third top scorer in the history of Barcelona.
📸 Suarez leaves as the best striker ever in this club
He leaves scoring 198 goals and making 97 assists in 283 appearances, meaning he leaves with over 1 goal contribution a game during his Barcelona career. He won 4 La Liga titles, 1 Champions League, 4 Copa del Rey, 1 Club World Cup, 1 Super Cup, 2 Spanish Super Cups, and a Golden Boot.
📸 Suarez posing with his best friends, rembering the good times
In his last few days as a player of our club, he still gave something to us fans. He pointed to Bartomeu when asked if he asks any regrets, and he refused to take a picture with him and the trophies. He gave us fans everything, and will always be remembered as arguably the greatest #9 Barcelona has ever seen, and forming the attacking trident often regarded as the greatest in football history.
Thank you Luis Suarez for wearing these colors. You are and will always be a Barcelona LEGEND. Visca el Barca!
🔵🔴💙❤️
Comments
Amazing from you, Nicholas, as usual! Thanks for the advanced use of bullet points and pics 🙂
Thanks again! 😁
This is amazing. Well written. Kudos to you pal
This is beautiful... Goodluck to Suarez... Kudos Nicholas