Barcelona Boss Defends Decision To Start Luis Suarez

Barcelona boss Luis Enrique defended his decision to start Luis Suarez in El Clasico on Saturday.

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Barcelona traveled to take on Real Madrid in their rivalry game on Saturday, a derby called El Clasico. It was the first of these match ups this season, and it was the debut game for Barcelona’s new striker Luis Suarez.

Suarez of course missed the beginning of the season while serving a suspension for biting Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini during the 2014 World Cup, the third such incident of his career.

For some reason after the game Barcelona boss Luis Enrique felt the need to defend his decision to start Luis Suarez in the first game he was eligible to play.

“I don’t regret that he started,” Enrique said, via Sky Sports.

“He did more than I expected him to do and I substituted him for fitness reasons.”

When it was announced that he would be starting, no one expected that he’d play the whole game. It was expected that he’d leave at some point.

Still, it is baffling that anyone would question the decision, Suarez played a crucial role in the little offense Barcelona had in the game. He set up the first goal scored by Neymar, the goal that gave Barcelona a lead in just the fourth minute. It was a Luis Suarez play and pass that almost resulted in a second goal for Barcelona, but Lionel Messi couldn’t bury it in the back of the net.

Suarez said he felt match fit though.

“I felt really good. I have been training for a long time with this game in mind and so when the coach made the decision I was in the right shape to play.

“I’m very happy that I was able to play, it was a big relief and I’m very happy with the minutes I had.

“I have a bittersweet sensation because of the result but this team has picked itself up before many times.

“Everyone knows what the Clasico is like, the first few minutes are very difficult.

“We went from having little control in the first few minutes to taking the lead but they are very good on the counter-attack and they killed off the game.”

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