Barcelona striker Luis Suarez claims he will not celebrate should he manage to score against his former club Ajax, during the teams’ Champions League Group F encounter on Wednesday night.
Suarez is set to make his Champions League debut for La Blaugrana at the Amsterdam Arena and spoke of his feelings on the moment, as well as his return to the club where he he initially made his name in Europe.
“Obviously I feel good, I am looking forward to playing, even more in this special game,” Suarez said. “I have nice memories of playing here, and of the affection I felt from the fans. Ajax was great from my career, they taught me many things, helped me improve. Obviously I would like to score, to lift the weight and get my first goal for [Barcelona], but out of respect I will not shout about it. I still have a lot of affection for this club and city.”
The former Liverpool striker has yet to taste victory or score a goal with his new club since returning from an eight-month FIFA-imposed ban for biting Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini during the World Cup.
Suarez went on to say that his start has not been ideal, but feels he is settling in at the club and with his new teammates. Despite speculation from the Spanish press, Suarez has accepted Barcelona manager Luis Enrique’s decision to deploy him on the right-side of the pitch in order to allow Lionel Messi his favored central position in attack.
“Losing two games in a row [to Real Madrid and Celta Vigo] is obviously not normal at a club like this,” he said. “Obviously I had been training with the team, and knew them, but when you go out to play it always feels a bit strange but now I am very comfortable on the pitch. The coach has his philosophy and tactical ideas that the players have to adapt to.”
“The first game I did not feel so good tactically, but as the games pass I feel better. Against Celta I did things well. Each player has to get used to the position and their teammates, and know their movements during the game.”
“Last year at Liverpool I scored a lot of goals, and played on the left and on the right, and also at number nine. I am used to playing in any of the three positions. But obviously I am an attacker who likes to score goals, like all forwards.”
[Programming note: Ajax v. Barcelona will be shown LIVE at 2:45pm EST today on FOX Sports 1, FoxSoccer2Go and Fox Soccer Plus.]
