Current Inter Miami striker Luis Suárez claimed that he was a better player during his final season at Liverpool rather than any of his prolific, trophy-laden campaigns at Barcelona.
The insatiable Uruguayan forward followed his childhood sweetheart to Europe, impressing enough at Groningen to earn a move to Dutch giants Ajax where Liverpool spotted his tireless quality.
After a period of adaptation over his first 18 months on Merseyside, which included a ban for allegedly racially abusing Patrice Evra, Suárez hit top form during his second full season in 2012–13.
That campaign ended in another controversy, as the Liverpool star was retroactively banned for biting Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanović, the second of three (so far) vampiric incidents in his divisive career. A failed move to Arsenal that summer added to the turmoil surrounding this tortured genius, yet it would give way to what he ranks as the best version of Suárez.
“The Suárez at Liverpool in 2013 or 2014, when everything was going his way—because everything was going his way—was special,” the man himself told SPORT. “It’s a streak, a moment, when everything clicks and you enjoy it.“
Luis Suarez’s Remarkable 2013–14 Season for Liverpool
Stats via WhoScored.
Suárez was unplayable for large swathes of Liverpool’s 2013–14 Premier League campaign. Equalling what was then a competition record of 31 goals in just 33 top-flight appearances, without taking a single penalty, the one-man swarm spearheaded the Reds’ charge into the Premier League title race.
It would all end in tears—a late-season collapse ultimately condemned Liverpool to a second-place finish, paving the way for Suárez to join Barcelona that summer in his quest for silverware.
Rather than the focal point through which every attack flowed—as was the case at Liverpool, Suárez joined a Barcelona frontline which already included Neymar Jr. and Lionel Messi.
“The Suárez at Barcelona was completely different from the Suárez at Liverpool because of the space and the role he had to fulfil,” he outlined.
“I always explained it: at Barcelona, I learned to play in a 10x10 meter space with one touch, something I didn’t do at Liverpool. At Liverpool, I had 40 metres to run on my own, and I had to trick myself and fight for the ball. It was the same in Uruguay. At Barcelona, no matter where I looked, I had to get used to passing accurately.”
Luis Suárez’s Most Prolific Seasons Were at Barcelona
Stats via FBref.
As much as the focus for Suárez shifted to picking out his equally talented teammates, he still found plenty of time to shoot. The three most prolific seasons in the striker’s European career came at Barcelona, with 2015–16 a particularly noteworthy campaign.
That year, after 12 months to truly find his groove in Catalonia, Suárez plundered a staggering 54 goals and 23 assists, 40 of which came in La Liga alone. In the decade from 2009–19, Suárez was the only player not named Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo to win the European Golden Shoe, breaking up soccer’s greatest ever duopoly at their peak.
As Suárez admitted, that iteration of himself “was also good.”
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Luis Suarez Makes Surprise Liverpool, Barcelona Comparison.
