Luis Suarez was left in tears as he FaceTimed friends and family after he scored his 21st goal of the season to hand Atletico Madrid the LaLiga title.
Suarez was surprisingly shown the door by Barcelona last summer and walked over to Atletico Madrid on a free transfer that ultimately proved decisive in this most thrilling of title races.
After the final whistle blew away at Real Valladolid to confirm Atletico as champions, an emotional Suarez had his mind cast back to being ruthlessly kicked out by Barcelona.
‘Barcelona didn’t value me and Atletico opened their doors for me,’ he said. ‘I will always be grateful to this club for trusting in me.’
Of Suarez’s 21 goals in LaLiga this season, seven proved to be winners and his boss could only ‘laugh’ when he reflected on the ex-Liverpool striker’s contribution.
‘We were in the Suarez zone. I told you,’ said Atletico coach Diego Simeone, referring to the way he had christened the run-in as Suarez’s territory.
Suarez got two goals in the last two games of the season to earn the team the six points that saw them over the line first. His goals won more points for his team than any other player in LaLiga.
‘Maybe he had a bit of luck at the end but that is Suarez. The names speaks for itself,’ added Simeone.
Suarez added: ‘I’m sure (Lionel) Messi is happy for me as a friend.
‘It was a difficult situation that I had to experience because of the way I was treated [by Barcelona].
‘Atletico had a great season despite the difficulties. It wasn’t normal that we had such a good first half of the season and it wasn’t normal that we had that big dip either but in the end we end up as Champions.’
Suarez, like many of his team-mates, was desperate to share the moment with those closest to him and he was in floods of tears on a video call as he basked in the title celebrations with his loved ones.
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