When Pep Guardiola moved Lionel Messi from the right wing to the middle of the park, he unleashed a monster. The fist instance of the move resulted in a 6-2 destruction of arch rivals Real Madrid. It took a bit of time for the position to become Messi’s primary one but, once it did, world-beating results followed. Have you ever heard of Lionel Messi’s 91 goal year in 2012? Yeah, that happened when he was playing striker.
Luis Suarez is in the midst of his greatest season as a professional. He’s scored 56 goals in 51 appearances for Barcelona and could end up with the Pichichi, awarded to the top goalscorer of each La Liga season. At only 29 years of age, the Barca striker should be at the top of his game for some time yet.
Luis Suarez’s blatant handball from the 2010 World Cup continues to be a subject of debate amongst soccer’s lawmakers. Suarez committed the offense in the closing stages of a quarter-final match against Ghana, giving Uruguay the slightest hopes of staving off elimination.
Asamoah Gyan sent the resulting penalty over the bar for Ghana, and Uruguay went through to the semis after a shoot-out victory. The International Football Association Board (IFAB) is now looking into ways to prevent that situation from ever occurring again.
Barcelona forward Luis Suárez surprised the world with statements he made to the European TV network Helden TV, in which he said he did not feel qualified to play for the Catalan club.
The Uruguayan is currently one of the figureheads of the FC Barcelona team. He is La Liga’s top scorer with 35 goals and joint top assistant with 14 assists, tied with his teammate Lionel Messi.
Barcelona have been in a bad way (for them) recently. They sandwiched two league losses around a stunning loss to Atletico Madrid that bounced them from the Champions League (after having won the first leg). This was the first time Barcelona had lost three games in a row since 2003. The momentum changed Wednesday, when Luis Suarez apparently decided he had had enough, and took his frustration out on the hapless Deportivo la Coruna, to the tune of four goals and three assists.
The final day of the Champions League quarterfinals kicked off today with Barcelona playing away at Atletico Madrid and Benfica hosting Bayern Munich. Barcelona were ahead 2-1 on aggregate heading into the match, but Madrid scored in the 36th minute to go ahead on aggregate due to the away goal tie-breaker.
Griezmann headed home a cross after Jordi Alba could not fully clear the ball. The Frenchman would add a penalty to take a 3-2 aggregate lead in the 88th minute after a handball by Andres Iniesta. The final score was 2-0.
It was the 74th minute and Suarez had struck again. This time it was a bullet header from the penalty spot. On camera it seemed as if he had hit the ball harder with his head than Dani Alves had with his cross. Whether or not that was true, the result was stunning: Luis Suarez had scored another golazo, and the whole world hated him for it.
Champions League Quarterfinals kicked off today with Bayern Munich facing Benfica and Barcelona taking on fellow La Liga foes, Atletico Madrid. Fernando Torres opened the scoring for Atletico in the 25th minute, however he was sent off with his second yellow card 10 minutes later. Madrid was down to 10 men and Luis Suarez took advantage when he scored in the 63rd and 74th minute. Barcelona would hold on to the lead and win 2 - 1. Bayern Munich got off to a hot start as Arturo Vidal scored on a header in the 2nd minute. His goal would prove to be the winner.
The Barcelona trident of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar – or MSN – is probably the best attacking force in soccer history. The unbelievable chemistry of the trio combined with the outrageous individual skills they all possess makes MSN unstoppable. Yet, for all their unbelievable achievements with Barcelona, success at the national level has evaded all of them. Sure, Suarez has a Copa America under his belt, and Neymar won the Confederation's Cup, but these are small potatoes compared to the ultimate prize: the World Cup.
Barcelona and Uruguay striker Luis Suarez is many things to many people. He's a hero, a villain, a family man, a lunatic, the leading scorer in Europe, that guy who bit Giorgio Chiellini, that guy who bit Otman Bakkal, that guy who bit Branislav Ivanovic, that guy who called Patrice Evra the n-word, that guy who batted the ball off the line in the World Cup. He's also filthy stinkin' rich.
How rich is he, though?