Luis Suarez has offered an apology for the way Barcelona played following the club’s 4-0 loss at the hands of Liverpool on Tuesday.
The Uruguayan and his team-mates held a 3-0 lead in their Champions League semi-final tie heading into the second leg at Anfield.
But, much in the same way the club fell against Roma in the Champions League in 2018, Liverpool responded with four goals – two each from Divock Origi and Georginio Wijnaldum – to knock the La Liga champions out of the competition.
And Suarez says it’s time for Barcelona to look inward after having failed in the Champions League in epic fashion in back-to-back seasons.
“We have to do a lot of self-criticism, it’s the second time the same happens to us,” he told reporters. “We cannot make these mistakes two years in a row, we have to reproach ourselves for what we are doing wrong, thinking that everything was finished.”
The loss to Liverpool has brought about immediate heat on Barcelona boss Ernesto Valverde, but Suarez was quick to back his manager and says the result falls on the players.
“We are the ones who play, the coach made the tactic that he made in the first leg,” he said. “We, the players, have to be self-aware, we are the ones who play.
“We have to apologize for the attitude, we were not a team. To our families, our children, our fans, we have to ask their forgiveness, it can not be that in a minute we concede two goals. In the fourth goal we looked like youngsters. We have to understand all the criticisms that are going to rain on us.”
The forward also said he and his team-mates were hurting but that they would need to steady themselves for what is coming their way.
“We are very sad, hurt, we are human beings, we feel the pain, the frustration, we have to do self-criticism, put our chest for the bullets of what is coming now”
Barcelona still have three matches left in their season, with two La Liga contests and the Copa del Rey final against Valencia on May 25.
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