Lionel Messi: Legend showed peak 'Barcelona swag' for Luis Suarez penalty in 2020 | OneFootball

When Luis Suarez joined Barcelona from Liverpool, there were question marks over whether Lionel Messi would get on with the controversial Uruguayan.

Suarez was serving a four-month ban when Barcelona signed him for £75 million in July 2014.

The South American was found guilty of the third biting incident of his career after sinking his teeth into Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini during the World Cup finals in Brazil.

Undeterred by his latest moment of madness, Barça splashed the cash on Suarez to partner Messi and Neymar and assembled arguably the greatest front three of all time in the process.

Suarez, Messi and Neymar all got on incredibly well both on and off the pitch.

And after Neymar left Camp Nou for Paris Saint-Germain in 2017, the bond between Messi and Suarez grew even stronger.

They would regularly meet up away from the pitch while their families even went on several holidays together.

Messi was furious with the unceremonious manner in which Barcelona offloaded Suarez to Atletico Madrid in September 2020 and understandably felt that his friend deserved much better after scoring 198 goals in 283 games for the Catalan club.

Despite Suarez’s move to Madrid, the two world-class forwards remained in close contact and their families continued to meet up.

And when Messi was deciding whether to join Paris Saint-Germain after his Barcelona spell ended abruptly in the summer, Suarez drove to his former teammate’s property in Castelldefels to offer advice.

Video: Messi tied his shoelaces as Suarez takes penalty

This real friendship is clearly one of the reasons why they had such a brilliant understanding on the pitch.

Suarez scored his 197th and penultimate Barça goal from the penalty spot against Napoli in the 2019-20 Champions League Round of 16.

And Messi was so confident that Suarez would convert the spot-kick that he knelt down and tied his shoelaces while his mate stepped up to shoot.

Messi only looked up when the ball was struck and then continued to tie his laces.

Peak Barcelona swag, right there.

From Messi and Suarez to Memphis Depay and Luuk de Jong in just over a year.

At least Barcelona fans will always have unbelievable memories of the greatest era in the club’s illustrious history.

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