Football NewsLuis Suarez pressed his hands together to ask forgiveness after his first goal against Barcelona
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The Uruguayan hit late in the first half to put Atletico 2-0 up over the struggling Catalans at the break, which turned out to be the final score.

Suarez remained respectful of Barca’s plight

Atletico Madrid striker Luis Suarez pressed his hands together to ask forgiveness after deepening Barcelona’s crisis with his first goal against his former employers on Saturday. The Uruguayan hit late in the first half to put Atletico 2-0 up over the struggling Catalans at the break, which turned out to be the final score. Suarez remained respectful of Barcelona’s plight, refusing to celebrate even as his teammates mobbed him in jubilation. However, he also offered a gesture that could be interpreted as a shot by his ex-manager Ronald Koeman. Saturday’s clash was the second time Suarez had met Barcelona since completing his move across La Liga in the summer of 2020.

 

A positive Covid-19 test robbed the forward of the chance to play against his old teammates in the first league match of last season, while he drew a blank in May’s 0-0 draw as Atletico closed in on the title.

Luis knew if he scored, he wasn’t going to celebrate

This time, though, he was on target, picking up on a sumptuous pass from Thomas Lemar – who had opened the scoring at the Wanda Metropolitano – and firing home to double Atleti’s lead. Suarez refused to celebrate his strike, though, instead offering a gesture of repentance to the Barcelona contingent, having spent six trophy-laden years at Camp Nou before his move. “I knew if I scored, I wasn’t going to celebrate,” Suarez told Movistar after the game. Suarez’s following gesture, though, caused something of a stir. The forward, who Koeman reportedly told he was surplus to requirements over a minute-long call before moving to Atletico, mimicked using a telephone after his goal. At the same time, the under-pressure Barca coach looked on. When asked if the gesture was intended for Koeman, though, Suarez denied it had to do with his former boss.

“It was for the people who know I have the same number, so they know I’m still on my phone,” the forward said. “It was something I had agreed on with my kids.” Famed as one of the deadliest strikers in Spain and across the football world, Suarez is still coming up with the goals even at the age of 34. Saturday’s strike takes him up to four in La Liga after eight games, while he also netted midweek to engineer a last-gasp Champions League win over AC Milan. Suarez has now also scored against every Liga opponent he has faced in the last seven years – with Barca becoming his 31st victim.