Suarez: 'Koeman treated me with contempt like I was 15 years old'

Luis Suarez has openly expressed his unease about the way he was treated by Barcelona in the summer of 2020, before he parted ways with the Blaugrana and joined Atletico Madrid. He also warned his former team-mate Xavi Hernandez to resist the temptation of taking the Barcelona job, saying 'there is a war that hurts the players' raging at the Nou Camp.

The Uruguayan striker signed for Los Rojiblancos ahead of the 2020/21 campaign and led Diego Simeone's side all the way to the LaLiga Santander title for the first time since 2013/14.

"Yes [I believe in karma]," Suarez told TVE1.

"Karma, destiny, that they despise you, because I have not forgotten that last year in pre-season [Barcelona] sent me to train on my own to make me angry, and I was a professional [despite that], as the coach said.

"I was a professional and I would train every day without pouting because that is what I have to do, because I am like that and fate will have its own end."

Suarez went on to stress that he has been a leader at every club where he has featured in Europe and made clear that his Golden Boots are move valuable than any individual award were people are asked to vote on.

"I like it, I like to assume that responsibility," added Suarez.

"[I am a player] who has fought a lot to be in the football elite because I have earned it the tough way, statistically.

"For me it's not about an individual award that they want to give me by voting.

"I've always said it: I won two Golden Boots in the era of Cristiano [Ronaldo] and Leo [Messi] and I have to be proud because I beat them in terms of numbers, not because people voted for me, and that has a lot of value.

"I assumed responsibility at Barcelona when Leo was not there. We played against [Real] Madrid and I scored three goals without Leo.

"At Liverpool there were similar occasions when [Steven] Gerrard, who was the benchmark, a legend for us, was not there.

"At Ajax I was captain aged 21 or 22 years old. I have had to experience situations which I value very much.

"I have to be proud, and I came to a club like Atletico with many people believing that I was already, in quotation marks, on the descent.

"It was a demonstration of ambition, not to get bored with winning, of wanting this club to continue growing and, well, last year we've had was something unique.

"I am assuming the responsibility of the Suarez zone, as the coach said, but [also] enjoying that responsibility because it is nice to live with that pressure."

Xavi and Barcelona

In an interview with Sport, Suarez discussed the possibility of Xavi Hernandez, his former teammate at Barcelona, replacing Ronald Koeman at the Camp Nou.

"As a football fan and what he has done as a player, I don't think today, tomorrow or the day after is the right time to take charge [of Barcelona]," noted Suarez.

"[Xavi] is intelligent and knows the difficulty of the club. He has to bide his time.

"He has ex-teammates at the club that he will have to make decisions with and it's going to be difficult."

Luis Suarez: "Leo told me that he wanted to finish his career at Barça and this made him happy.“Koeman treated me with contempt like I was 15 and Bartomeu said I was a bad character in the locker room."

Luis Suarez to Sport: “At Barca there is a war that hurts the players. I personally recommend Xavi to wait. This is not the ideal time to get to the club. He’s smart he has to wait a moment”.