Suarez Promises Not To Celebrate Against Liverpool

By Max Wise

Barcelona forward, Luis Suarez, has promised not to celebrate against Liverpool if he scores against them in the UEFA Champions League semi-final second leg at Anfield on Tuesday.

Suarez did not hold back in his celebration when he opened the scoring against his former club in the first leg at the Camp Nou last week.

The 32-year-old Uruguay international spent three-and-a-half seasons at Liverpool after joining them from Ajax Amsterdam in January 2011 before departing for Barcelona after the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

Some Liverpool fans were unhappy with how Suarez, who scored 82 goals in 133 games for the Reds, celebrated after his goal in the first leg, but the 2013 Premier League golden boot winner has vowed that there will be no such scenes if he finds the back of the net at Anfield.

"People who love this sport know the importance of a goal in the Champions League semi-finals," Suarez told a news conference.

"I have all the respect in the world for the Liverpool fans. I am very thankful to them. If I score a goal against Liverpool here I won't celebrate in the same way.

"Being at Liverpool helped me in so many ways, it made me more professional, it helped me mature. Having players here with great experience allowed me to be better even more. Being captain of Liverpool was one of the proudest moments of my career. I won't forget it.

"The reason I am playing at Barcelona, at the elite level, is because of Liverpool. If I score tomorrow it will mean I can feel relaxed and Liverpool have to score more to qualify. But it won't relax me on a personal level. It's not about me getting more goals on my account.

"I was never not up for games at Anfield. You'd play a game against a lower league team in the cup and the stadium would be full and it motivated you. If there was nothing on the game, it would still be full. The motivation is different now as I'm in a different shirt.

"All the work I did here and the way I'm thankful for Liverpool... the team had four or five years without being in the Champions League, the people here know the work I did here. I think there will be more applause than whistles for me.

"I think there will be some people unhappy but there are people in the kitchen [at training centre Melwood] waiting to give me presents for my children. It was the first stadium for one of them."