Luis Suarez admits he was 'not surprised' that Lionel Messi fired a shot at Barcelona following his £5.5million departure to Atletico Madrid.
Messi posted an emotional farewell to his former team-mate on Instagram last month before savaging the Catalan side for selling his close friend to their LaLiga rivals, writing the Uruguayan did not deserve to be 'kicked out' but that 'at this point nothing surprises me.'
Suarez was told in no uncertain terms he was not wanted by Barcelona boss Ronald Koeman, and therefore the 33-year-old has admitted he expected Messi to speak out because of the pain he felt, while also revealing players - including himself - were made to train alone at Barcelona if they were not considered for a game.
'I was not surprised about Messi because I know him too well, I knew the pain he felt, as I did,' Suarez said after Uruguay's 2-1 victory against Chile on Thursday, in which he netted a first-half penalty.
'He felt they kicked me out of the club because of the forms. There were other ways to do things correctly with me. They were six long years and that bothered him too. I see him as a friend and he knows how badly we suffered.
'My family wanted to see me happy. There are some strange things at Barcelona like sending you to train separately because you were not considered for the game...
'Those kinds of things made me bad and my family saw me affected, so they encouraged me to take the opportunity. When Atletico came looking for me, I didn't hesitate for a single moment.
'Obviously I have to get used to various things, but I feel very happy at Atletico.'
Suarez made an immediate impression for Diego Simeone's side last month, scoring twice and claiming an assist on his Atletico debut in a 6-1 drubbing of Granada.
Simeone was quick to praise Suarez after that match and singled out his work off the ball.
'His two goals didn't stand out for me, but his assists, his runs and his movement did,' Simeone said.
'The changes gave us a bit extra with the strength of Marcos [Llorente], the quality of Vitolo, the clarity of Thomas [Partey] and Suarez knows what he has to do: play for the team.'
The outburst from Messi regarding Suarez came after the Argentine had become embroiled in a transfer saga with the Catalan club as the 33-year-old Argentine sought to trigger a clause in his contract that would allow him to walk away for free, ending a near-two decade spell with the club.
He eventually gave in to his own pursuit of an exit to avoid a huge legal battle with the club who disputed the eligibility of the clause.
Suarez and Messi had formed a formidable partnership both on and off the pitch since his arrival from Liverpool in 2014, helping the club to win the 2015 Champions League title and four LaLiga trophies.
