{"id":583217,"date":"2021-02-10T04:54:01","date_gmt":"2021-02-10T09:54:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/?p=583217"},"modified":"2021-02-10T04:54:01","modified_gmt":"2021-02-10T09:54:01","slug":"luis-suarez-breaks-cristiano-ronaldos-record-in-dream-start-with-atletico-madrid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2021\/02\/10\/luis-suarez-breaks-cristiano-ronaldos-record-in-dream-start-with-atletico-madrid\/","title":{"rendered":"Luis Su\u00e1rez Breaks Cristiano Ronaldo\u2019s Record in Dream Start With Atl\u00e9tico Madrid"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two sliding tap-ins on either side of halftime saw Atl\u00e9tico Madrid ace Luis Su\u00e1rez<\/a> continue his superb start to the 2020\/21 La Liga campaign<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Despite conceding a late equaliser to Galician outfit Celta de Vigo, Alt\u00e9ti remain five points clear of Real Madrid<\/a> (with two games in hand) and eight points above Barcelona<\/a> (with one game in hand) at the top of the table<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And the role that the veteran Uruguayan striker has played in the Madrid club\u2019s bid to win its first league title since the 2013\/14 season is undisputed.<\/p>\n

Luis Su\u00e1rez Continues Dream Start With Atl\u00e9tico Madrid<\/h2>\n

Making Every Shot Count for Atl\u00e9ti<\/h3>\n

After reportedly being told in a 30-second phone conversation with Barcelona manager Ronald Koeman that he was surplus to requirements<\/a> at the Nou Camp, El Pistolero<\/em> has scored 16 goals in his first 17 La Liga matches, with only 20 shots on target.<\/p>\n

Su\u00e1rez has arrived at the total faster than any other player<\/a> in their debut season with a Liga team in the twenty-first century, beating out Cristiano Ronaldo\u2019s previous record from the 2009\/10 season by one game.<\/p>\n

According to data from Opta<\/a>, Su\u00e1rez has won more points for his team with his goals than anyone else in Europe\u2019s top five leagues, earning 12 points from his 16 goals. These include ten of the last 19 points that the team has accumulated.<\/p>\n

His brace against Celta also puts him level with Luis Aragon\u00e9s as the seventeenth top scorer in La Liga history with 160 goals. Aragon\u00e9s achieved the feat in 360 matches, while Su\u00e1rez required only 208.<\/p>\n

For those fans hardwired to seek out patterns, the story is beginning to feel familiar. Back in the 2013\/14 campaign, key goals from David Villa \u2013 who had swapped Barcelona for Alt\u00e9ti the summer before \u2013 helped Los Rojiblancos<\/em> to their first title in 18 years.<\/p>\n

However, Villa\u2019s departure from Barcelona did not have nearly the same impact that Su\u00e1rez\u2019s has. After all, Villa moved to make way for Alexis S\u00e1nchez, who scored 19 goals in La Liga that year and finished fourth in line for the Pichichi trophy.<\/p>\n

Barcelona Suffer From Sellers Remorse<\/h3>\n

Unlike that campaign, in which Barcelona finished just three points behind Atl\u00e9ti, this year they have suffered without a traditional centre forward<\/a>. Neither Antoine Griezmann nor Martin Braithwaite has been able to fill the role the way Su\u00e1rez did, seamlessly linking up with club talisman Lionel Messi, while also scoring an average of nearly 25 goals per season in six campaigns at the Nou Camp.<\/p>\n

While Su\u00e1rez is averaging 0.94 goals per game in La Liga this time around, Braithwaite has scored just twice in 18 matches and Griezmann has not done much better<\/a>, with only six goals in 20.<\/p>\n

Barcelona’s failure to find a replacement for Su\u00e1rez has grown increasingly apparent, while the decision to allow him to go to a direct rival was criticised from all sides.<\/p>\n

\u201cBar\u00e7a made a mistake with Luis Su\u00e1rez. One would have to ask why this decision was made,\u201d said Diego Forl\u00e1n<\/a>, the former Rojiblanco<\/em> star and teammate of Su\u00e1rez on the Uruguayan national team. \u201cEven someone who does not know about football knows that he is a [still a good] player and it was logical that he would do well at Atl\u00e9tico. He makes a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n

Main Photo<\/p>\n

Embed from Getty Images<\/a>