CADIZ, Spain: After spending six seasons watching on as Lionel Messi took most of Barcelona’s free kicks, Luis Suarez rediscovered his knack for striking dead balls with a superb goal in Atletico Madrid’s 4-2 win at Cadiz on Sunday.
Suarez fought off competition from Joao Felix and Thomas Lemar to try his luck from over 30 yards out and struck the ball to perfection, sending it over the wall and inside the near post to give Atletico the lead.
“Being at Barcelona for so long and being alongside Leo, who used to take the free kicks, it was difficult, but I scored a few at Liverpool and with Uruguay and now I’m making the most of my opportunities,” Suarez told reporters.
“We talked about free kicks just the other day in training when we practised them. Tom (Lemar) was the best but today it was a bit further out so I asked him if I could take it and when a striker is on form you have to go for it.”
Suarez scored later in the game to make it 3-1 to Atletico from the penalty spot, moving on to 14 goals from 14 league starts to move clear at the top of the scoring charts.
“When a striker is on a run of goals you have to enjoy it and make the most of all the chances you get. It’s difficult to keep up that level throughout the year but I’ll try and help the team as much as I can,” added the Uruguayan.
Suarez is certainly helping Atletico with their pursuit of a first title since 2014 and they moved 10 points clear at the top of La Liga after an eighth league win in a row.
Atletico coach Diego Simeone said he was not surprised to see Suarez score the free kick.
“The other day he, Joao and Lemar were practising them and we talked about it. Luis said he used to score a few goals from free kick and I said I had never seen him score so often,” said the coach.
Suarez scored only two free kick goals in six seasons with Barca compared with eight in three and a half campaigns with Liverpool. For Uruguay, he scored with a low free kick in the last World Cup against Russia.
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