<
>

Barcelona's Luis Suarez: Nutmegs only option for Paris Saint-Germain brace

Barcelona's matchwinner Luis Suarez said he had "no option" but to nutmeg David Luiz for his two goals in Wednesday's 3-1 Champions League quarterfinal first-leg win at Paris Saint Germain.

Against a weakened PSG team, Barca went 1-0 up in the first half through Neymar's cool strike from Lionel Messi's pass.

Suarez then took centre-stage with two fine solo goals to put his side in complete control of the tie, even if substitute Jeremy Mathieu's late own-goal provided a consolation for the Ligue 1 side.

Including the brace he also scored at Manchester City in the round-of-16 first leg, Suarez now has 11 goals in his last 11 games, and both of tonight's goals included nutmegs on luckless PSG centre-back David Luiz.

Speaking on Canal Plus after the game, the €80 million summer signing from Liverpool said that the two pieces of skill had been the only route available as he attempted to get into position to shoot.

"Forwards are always trying to look for goals, and two good moves came off for me," Suarez said. "I had to do the two nutmegs, because it was the only option I had. A nice move came off, and the ball went in."

Suarez said that the fluidity of Barca's front three had helped provide the space for his goals.

"We three forwards can play in any of the three positions, so we can switch around," he said. "Leo also comes into the centre and space opens. That is why the goal came from the right wing."

Even with the 3-1 first leg advantage, Suarez claimed the tie was still not over ahead of the return game at Barca's Camp Nou next Tuesday evening.

"In football you never know what can happen," he said. "They have a lot of quality and we must be aware that this is not over yet. It will be a nice game."

PSG's missing players, including the suspended Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Marco Verratti, were added to by an injury to Thiago Silva which saw Luiz needing to come on early despite not being fully recovered from a hamstring problem.

Suarez said Barca's intensity from the opening moments had been key to taking control of the game against a team previously unbeaten in their last 33 home European games.

"We were intelligent showing focus from the first minute of the game," he added. "We knew we needed to play with lots of intensity.

"They are very strong at home, and we were able to turn the game our way. We must not undervalue the tactical work we did. We ran a lot and they were missing important players."