Returning to your former club is always a tricky experience, even if you’re still well thought of there, and Luis Suárez found that out when Barcelona took on Liverpool in the Champions League last season.
The Uruguayan is still well-loved at Anfield after a goal-laden three-year spell on Merseyside that saw him score 82 goals and register 47 assists in 133 games for the club.
His return to Anfield was not a happy one, though, as Liverpool overcame a 3-0 deficit in a scintillating 4-0 victory to progress to the Champions League final.
It proved to be a particularly frustrating evening for Suárez as he ultimately failed to have an impact on the game, and he’s admitted he didn’t want to leave his house following the defeat.
“It was days, weeks, that we who loved to take the kids to school, football, activities, we suffered,” he told Fox Sports Argentina, relayed by Mundo Deportivo.
“I didn’t want to leave from home after losing. It was very complicated. I had a bad time, like most of my teammates.”
“I said it in the previous interviews. We had already learned the previous year that we could have such a 3-0 result in favour, but football has that.”
As a former Liverpool player, Suárez was more than aware of the impact that a fired-up Anfield can have on both teams.
It proved to be a detriment to Barcelona in this defeat, as a rocking Anfield pushed Liverpool to one of their more famous Champions League victories.
And he admits that he warned his Barça teammates about the power the stadium can have but refuses to take anything away from his former team’s performance.
“We knew how Anfield was going to be and how tight the stadium was, I told the teammates and everything,” he added.
“It is not necessary to take away credit from Liverpool, they pushed the fans.”
“In five minutes they had two situations, at 15′ they already won and that enters you, it generates a nervousness.”
“Then you see that a teammate loses the ball, another loses two more balls, and that leads you to an awkward situation until in the second half it goes out as it came out.”
“The Champions League has that, if you go out 30 seconds relaxed, they pass you by.”
