Luis Suarez Bids Atletico Madrid Fans Goodbye in an Emotional Farewell

Luis Suarez Bids Atletico Madrid Fans Goodbye in an Emotional Farewell

Martin Moses
updated at April 12, 2023 at 8:02 PM
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  • Luis Suarez played his last game at the Wanda Metropolitano in Atletico Madrid’s draw against Sevilla on Sunday evening
  • Suarez is set to leave the club at the end of this season after an impressive two-year spell that saw him win the La Liga title in his debut season
  • The former Barcelona striker featured 82 times under Diego Simeone, scoring 34 goals in the process including some crucial ones last season in the La Liga triumph

Atletico Madrid fans bid Luis Suarez goodbye in a moving sendoff yesterday. The club had earlier confirmed that Suarez will be leaving at the end of the season.

Suarez joined Atletico Madrid two seasons ago from Barcelona. He found a new home with the capital club after former Barcelona manager Ronald Koeman asked him to leave.

Luis Suarez, Atletico Madrid, Wanda Metropolitano, Sevilla, transfer news, Barcelona, La Liga
Luis Suarez salutes the crowd after the La Liga match between Atletico Madrid and Sevilla. Photo by Juan Manuel Serrano Arce.
Source: Getty Images

He then crossed over to Atletico where he scored 21 goals in his debut season. The Diego Simeone side powered to the La Liga title for the first time since 2014.

The Uruguayan hitman started Atletico’s game against Sevilla. Simeone then substituted him after 65 minutes which was greeted with a rapturous reception at the Wanda Metropolitano. Suarez was overcome with emotion as he made his way to the technical area.

Football Espana reports that at full time, he received similar applause. Suarez featured for the Los Rojiblancos in 82 games where he scored 34 times and provided six assists.

Simeone says Suarez will score goals until he dies

Diego Simeone had during a press conference explained Suarez’s situation, as Marca reports. Suarez has been used sparingly by the Argentinian manager this season.

I had a talk with Luis Suarez in mid-November. It was long, hard and sincere. We both talked about what each of us saw going forward, and what we are going to need from him. I am grateful to Suarez for what he meant. He will score goals until he dies.

Despite featuring rarely this season, Suarez is still Atletico’s top league scorer with 11 goals.

Atletico played out to a one-all draw against Sevilla to boost their chances of finishing in third place. Youssef En Nesyri cancelled out Jose Gimenez's opener in the first half.

The draw leaves Atletico in third place with 68 points while Sevilla are fourth with 67 points. Of importance though is that Simeone’s men have booked their spot in next season’s Champions League.

Suarez is open to returning to Barcelona

Sports Brief had earlier reported that Suarez was open to making a comeback to Barcelona this summer. El Pistolero, as he is commonly referred to, is ready to take a pay cut and go back to the Catalan giants.

Xavi Hernandez is in the hunt for a new striker and could consider a possible Suarez reunion. Barcelona are also keeping tabs on Robert Lewandowski’s status at Bayern Munich.

Lewandowski has apparently communicated his desire to run down his contract to the Bavarian giants. His contract expires next season.

Authors
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Martin Moses
Martin Moses is a sports journalist with over five years of experience in media. He graduated from Multimedia University of Kenya (Bachelor of Journalism, 2017-2021)
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