Thursday 16 April 2015 09:10, UK
Luis Suarez is the proper striker Barcelona have been missing, says Sky Sports pundit Thierry Henry.
The former Liverpool forward scored twice as the Catalan club beat PSG 3-1 in Paris to take a strong lead in their Champions League quarter-final.
Neymar was also on target as Luis Enrique’s club dominated for large spells, and former Barcelona forward Henry was full of praise for Suarez’s performance.
“For me, he is a No 9 I like to see. He goes into the channel, he will hold the ball at times.
“For the first goal he went into the channel, held it, pure strength. The second one, he drops, plays a one-two and goes behind.
“He’s always available. He’s always looking to go behind and they now have a proper No 9."
Suarez joined Barcelona for £75m last summer and has been in prolific form of late, netting 11 goals in his last 11 appearances in all competitions.
Sky Sports expert Henry believes Suarez’s impact is not only providing goals, but is giving Lionel Messi extra room to manoeuvre as defenders are kept occupied, when they were busy marking him before.
“In my Barca team we had that with me and Samuel Eto’o,” he added.
“They knew we would always ask for the ball in behind, and therefore Leo could encounter space in that false nine role.
“They’ve gone back into that. Why? Because they have one guy we’ve been talking about all night, and that’s Suarez.
“Him being in that position will allow everybody to play better. They went to Leo on the right and Neymar on the left, but they have that No 9 they didn’t have for a long time.”
Barcelona host PSG next Tuesday as they look to reach the semi-finals – something Henry believes it almost a foregone conclusion after their win at the Parc des Princes.
“I don’t see them going to the Nou Camp and winning by three goals,” he said.
“Anything can happen in the game, but I just don’t see that happening, especially against Barca.”
