Luis Suarez
Luis Suarez accused Barcelona of defending like kids and apologised to supporters after the Spanish champions collapsed in a humiliating 4-0 defeat against Liverpool as they were eliminated from the Champions League on Tuesday.
Divock Origi and Georginio Wijnaldum both scored twice as Liverpool recovered from a three-goal defeat at Camp Nou last week to reach the Champions League final for a second season running, thanks to a 4-3 aggregate win.
Following Origi’s game-opening goal, substitute Wijnaldum scored twice in two minutes at the start of the second half before Origi added the winner in front of the Kop at Anfield when Barca switched off at a corner.
“It is inconceivable that we, Barcelona, concede two goals in just over a minute,” Suarez told reporters. “We defended like kids for the fourth goal.”
It’s the second time in two seasons that the Catalans have given up a three-goal advantage in the Champions League. Last season, they lost 3-0 to Roma after winning the first leg 4-1 losing the tie on the away goals rule.
Suarez, who on his return to Liverpool was jeered and told to ‘f— off’ by supporters who used to idolise him, said the Barcelona players must be prepared for the criticism which will come their way in the coming weeks.
“We have to be really self-critical about what happened,” he added. “It’s the second time this has happened. We can’t commit the same mistakes two years running. There are a lot of things to evaluate and to think about.
“We have to apologise for our attitude and we must be conscious that the criticism is going to rain down on us now. We’re really upset; we’re hurting a lot. We’re humans and we feel the pain.”