The arrival of the weekend heralds the end of Luis Suarez’s four-month ban from competitive football [although Suarez is still banned from competitive internationals with Uruguay and will miss the Copa America in Chile next year] after biting Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini in the World Cup last summer.
There is no better fixture in which to make your competitive debut than El Clasico – Real Madrid vs. Barcelona. The Uruguayan will enter the hallowed turf of Santiago Bernabeu and take his place in arguably the most watched fixture in club football.
There will roughly be a global television audience of 500 million watching the game and all eyes will be on both clubs but particularly Suarez, curious to see how he will perform.
Despite not being match fit to the standards of Lionel Messi or Neymar Coach Luis Enrique has confirmed he will be involved in El Clasico. “He will have some minutes for sure, how many I cannot say,” he told reporters. “It is a big thing for him, to join up finally with the team and get some minutes.”
When looking at Suarez’s career history it is easy to see why Enrique is willing to put him into the squad. He had an excellent campaign with Liverpool last season, scoring 31 goals in 33 games to become the League’s top scorer, as well as Player of the Year.
On the international stage Suarez helped his country win the Copa America four years ago in Argentina. Despite his indiscretions in the World Cup he displayed his talents by scoring twice to knock out England, showing why he is his country’s record goal scorer. Real Madrid Coach Carlo Ancelotti is well aware that at some point during the game Los Merengues will face an attacking corps of Neymar, Messi and Suarez.
Though Neymar and Messi score goals they can be creative outlets that help create chances for fellow players. However, Suarez is a predatory finisher able to score the most outrageous of goals whether inside the box or 35 yards from goal. His scoring record for the European clubs at which he has played since moving to Dutch club Groningen from Uruguayan giants Nacional speaks for itself.
During three-and-a-half years at Ajax he scored 111 goals in 158 matches before moving to Liverpool in January 2011. In the extravagant theatre that is the Premier League Suarez thrived, scoring 82 goals in 133 appearances in another three-and-a-half year stay.
At will he scored goals from 40 yards out and became a hero among Liverpool fans even though transgressions, such as biting and alleged racism towards an opponent, led Suarez to miss 18 games. Such is his value that throughout last season he
Suarez’s major flaw is when he gets frustrated, it can lead him to do careless things. In a game as big as El Clasico he will be targeted and sparks could fly. Whether Suarez can control himself after his past mistakes remains to be seen.
