Luis Suarez has disclosed he experienced a similar pain to Lionel Messi over his controversial Barcelona exit.
Following this, Argentine star, Messi took a swipe at the Catalan giants for their decision to remove Suarez from Camp Nou, who has since linked up with Atletico Madrid.
“You deserved a farewell that fit with who you are: one of the most important players in the history of the club. Someone who achieved great things for the team and on an individual level,” Messi posted on Instagram at the time.
“You did not deserve for them to throw you out like they did. But the truth is that at this stage nothing surprises me anymore.”
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Suarez expected his friend and former team-mate to speak out in such a way and has now admitted he harbours similar feelings over his Barcelona departure.
“I was not surprised about Messi because I know him too well, I knew the pain he felt, as I did,” the Uruguayan said after finding the back of the net in Uruguay’s 2-1 win against Chile on Thursday.
“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.”
The 33-year-old had a fairytale debut for Diego Simeone’s side last month as he scored twice and claimed an assist in his first appearance.
Simeone was quick to laud 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, the quality of Vitolo, the clarity of Thomas [Partey] and Suarez knows what he has to do: play for the team.”
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