`Playing the first match for Barca on a football field like Santiago Bernabeu will be very special,` Luis Suarez said yesterday on the sidelines of the ceremony to receive the European Golden Shoe award for the 2013-2014 season.
With 31 goals scored for Liverpool in the Premier League last season, Suarez became co-owner of the European Golden Shoe – the award given to the top scorer in European national championships – with Cristiano Ronaldo, who
The Uruguayan striker was bought by Barca from Liverpool last summer when he received a four-month ban from participating in football activities for biting Giorgio Chiellini at the 2014 World Cup. Lobbying and appeal efforts
Thanks to the reduced sentence, Suarez can practice with Barca and attend friendly matches.
`Before the two matches against Uruguay, I was not strong enough to play. But now I feel very good physically, better than I ever expected and completely ready to fight,` said the 120-year-old striker.
Suarez is also optimistic that he will easily adapt to Barca: `I think adaptation is not a problem. I simply want to go on the field and have fun. I am at the club, where I always wanted to join.`
Suarez played very well in two recent friendly matches against Saudi Arabia and Oman.
The current suspension is the longest he has had to miss a match, but in reality, Suarez has almost no problem returning after the penalties.
Suarez’s return is also expected to create more surprise for Barca’s attack, which is being criticized for playing less explosively than last season (only scoring 19 goals in La La Liga, far less than Real Madrid’s 25 goals over seven years).
Messi playing deep causes him to score less goals and Barca has to depend on Neymar, while the remaining strikers all have problems.