Luis Suarez Defends Neymar After Barcelona Criticism, Talks La Liga, Ronaldo

Luis Suarez has offered Neymar his support amid criticism over the Brazilian's dip in form for Barcelona.

According to Javier Miguel of Sport, Suarez said of Neymar: “We are humans, not machines, we can have ups and down and it hurts that everyone has blamed him, because he is my friend. When we won everything last year no one said it was just because of Neymar and it's not all his fault now.”

The forward had endured a five-game drought without a goal or an assist—lengthy by his own standards this season—but netted in Barca's incredible 8-0 win over Deportivo La Coruna on Wednesday.

Spanish football expert Rafael Hernandez hoped the goal would signal the end of his poor form:

The win was sorely needed for the team, having lost their last three La Liga matches and not won a domestic contest since March 12, which let both Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid firmly back into the title race.

Suarez has not considered that Barca may not go on to win the league, though: “We are leaders and we have the responsibility of winning this league. We are the only team that can depend on ourselves. The other option of not winning the league doesn't fit in my head. It would be great to win the double, something beautiful and incredible.”

Even after the outstanding win, Barca are only ahead of Atletico on goal difference and one ahead of Real with four matches to go.

Hernandez noted the importance of their showing on Wednesday to their title chances:

Their final four matches are against Sporting Gijon, Real Betis, Espanyol and Granada, all of whom are in the bottom half of the league, and unlike their two rivals they don't have the distraction of the UEFA Champions League, so they are still in with an excellent chance of winning.

That is particularly the case if Suarez can repeat his performance from Wednesday as he bagged four goals and assisted three in a stunning showing.

The haul saw him overtake the Brazilian Ronaldo's 48-goal season with Barca from 1996-97 and Suarez was honoured to do so: “I feel privileged and proud to overtake Ronaldo for what he did for Barca and in world football, it’s a privilege to overtake a football great like him.”

Here are all four of his goals from Wednesday:

Sky Sports Statto revealed the numbers behind his performance, while football journalist Dermot Corrigan added further context to his overall goal tally:

Along with Neymar and Suarez, Lionel Messi also got on the scoresheet for Barca at the Estadio Riazor. The trio looked to be lagging somewhat after a long season in which they've played over 12,000 minutes combined, but if they can maintain their form for a short while longer after rediscovering it in style they can achieve greatness yet again.

As their top goalscorer and top assist-provider, Suarez in particular will be key, but when all three are playing well there's virtually no stopping them.