UEFA Champions League Final 2015: FC Barcelona player ratings
ST Luis Suarez 8.0
There are few players in world football who are as consistent as Luis Suarez, and the Uruguayan was simply unmarkable. Neither Leonardo Bonucci nor Andrea Barzagli could handle him, as Suarez’s movement off the ball (which is the best of any striker in the world) was simply unstoppable, and it led him to executing a tap-in for Barca’s decisive second goal.
Suarez was so dangerous that he finished with a team-leading three shots on target and seven shots in total, and Juventus had to resort to fouling the world’s third-best player, who tied with Messi for a team-leading five fouls drawn. The guy also had two key passes, including an absolutely lovely threaded ball to Dani Alves, who forced Buffon into an absolute stunner of a save to keep the stinging first-time effort out, but Suarez’s run and pass on that play cannot get lost in the shuffle.
With all apologies to Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Suarez is the best striker in the world, and he showed it last night. Nobody in the world is better at unselfishly freeing up teammates with his dangerous running, and Suarez is the one of those guys whose work off of the ball can be under-appreciated as we all watch Messi, Neymar, and Iniesta dancing around another helpless defender.