Luis Suarez says the crowd's hostility spurred him on
The controversial Barcelona striker was booed by City fans every time he touched the ball in his first appearance in England since the World Cup biting shame led to his controversial departure from Liverpool.
But Suarez – whose double knocked England out of the world Cup last summer - said the reception at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday made his double strike even sweeter.
“There are certain types of players like me who get more inspired, more motivated, when fans boo them,” he said. “It helps motivate you a bit more.
“Obviously it is pleasing to score, first of all to be able to help the team because they were important goals in a Champions League knockout game, but also to come back to England and against a team you’re always motivated to play against.”
UEFA will take no action against Suarez after video footage raised suspicion of another bite this time on City defender Martin Demichelis – and later footage emerged showing the Uruguayan did nothing wrong.
There was no mention of the incident in the match report from the officials at the Etihad and City sources say Demichelis made no mention of it after the game.
Luis Enrique delighted with win at City [AMBIENT]
We were clever in our reading of the game and we created a lot of openings and could have scored another goal
Luis Suarez
City will also not make a complaint to UEFA after Barcelona’s Brazilian striker Neymar was caught up in an angry verbal exchange with one of their fans.
Despite Barcelona’s 2-1 win, Saurez insists the last 16 tie is far from over.
“The important thing was the team managed to win and with the result it means we can feel a little more confident about the second leg,” he said.
“But against a team like City with the quality they have you can never be sure what might happen in the second leg.
“We produced a really good game and managed to take advantage of the space City left open. We were clever in our reading of the game and we created a lot of openings and could have scored another goal.
“We know it if was 3-1 we might have been able to relax a little bit, not 100 per cent, because against City you never know what might happen, they have a lot of good players who can win a game for them.”
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