Luis Suarez Shows He's Loving Life at Barca, but Gareth Bale Falters in Clasico
CAMP NOU, BARCELONA — Luis Suarez has experienced his first seismic moment as a Barcelona player.
He's had big moments, sure. Scoring both goals against Manchester City at the Etihad in the Champions League, for example, is pretty big by anyone's standards.
But this was the first time Suarez shook the earth underneath the Camp Nou to its very core.
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The Uruguayan didn't have the best start to his Barca career, although his spectacular scissor kick against Levante certainly bought him some time from supporters who had taken to him anyway.
But while Real Madrid fans whistle Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo, Barcelona fans backed Suarez during his minor goal drought in the Catalan capital.
That support was paid back in full on Sunday night.
He started the game with a delightful ball to Andres Iniesta which nearly led to a goal, and that was merely a sign of things to come.
Suarez kept plugging away, showing the work ethic up front which Barcelona need when the other two forwards are Lionel Messi and Neymar. Less than 20 minutes into the match, he drew a foul from Real's Pepe, which led to Jeremy Mathieu's goal.
The Uruguayan forward was distracted from his task for a short while, when he tangled with the same Madrid defender. This was a matchup between two heavyweights we have long been denied, given Suarez was in England with Liverpool and Pepe in Spain with Madrid.
Pepe started it, crashing into the back of Suarez and leaving him on the deck. Referee Mateu Lahoz saw fit to book the defender, which gave him little choice but to punish Suarez to the same extent when the Uruguayan repaid the favour.
Suarez caught Pepe on the back of the leg with his studs and refused to apologise to the player at the behest of the referee. Whether the foul or his lack of repentance earned him the yellow card is unknown.
But Suarez was left at a crossroads. He could go down that old road, him against the world. Or he could be more. He could be better.
Suarez chose the latter, thankfully for Barcelona. His dribble before half-time was stunning, although he tried to do too much and was eventually tackled. But his next contribution was key.
Dani Alves played an impressive looped through ball towards Suarez, who shook off the attentions of Sergio Ramos and Pepe, leaving them eating his dust.
Reaching the ball, Suarez took one beautiful touch, caressing the ball and taking it forward a yard before firing it beyond Iker Casillas and into the bottom corner.
It was a goal that epitomised the breakaway style of Luis Enrique's Barcelona as opposed to the "softly, softly, catchee monkey" way of Pep Guardiola.
Suarez, the Premier League Player of the Year in 2013-14, had settled the game. And the Premier League Player of the Year from 2012-13? He regressed.
Bale truly suffered here at the Camp Nou. One crunching challenge on him from Gerard Pique, the Man of the Match, cut short a Madrid counter that looked like it could have led to a goal.
And when Bale did find the net from close range, it was ruled out for offside. The Welshman himself was in a legal scoring position, but Ronaldo was offside in the buildup. Bale shrank, becoming less and less of an influence on the game as it progressed.
Suarez is comfortable at Barcelona; Bale is becoming increasingly less so at Real Madrid. It would be no great surprise if the latter left in the summer.
When Madrid arrived back in the capital and the players collected their cars from the Valdebebas training ground, Bale's was attacked by a furious fan, per Sport (link in Spanish).
Enjoying a seismic moment doesn't mean you're bulletproof. Bale knows that from last season, when he scored in the finals of the Copa del Rey and Champions League.
But you feel that Suarez gets Spanish football more than Bale does. He gets the country; he gets the people. He is at home in a team with a strong South American presence.
Suarez's seismic moment on Sunday is just the first to come. It won't be his last.
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