Barcelona coach Luis Enrique has hailed the unique qualities of Luis Suarez after another week in which the prolific goalscorer dominated the headlines.
The Uruguay forward scored twice as Barca came from behind to beat Atletico Madrid 2-1 in Tuesday’s Uefa Champions League quarter-final first leg.
However, Suarez was also lucky to escape a red card for kicking out at Juanfran and striking Filipe Luis in the face during the same game.
Suarez, 29, is suspended for Saturday’s trip to Real Sociedad and Enrique’s pre-match news conference was dominated by questions about the striker.
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“I love the type of player that Luis Suarez is, there’s no other striker in the world like him,” Enrique said.
“Only defenders are allowed to hit players. If a striker suddenly does it then people are more bothered.
“Luis is doing very well, he’s a vital player for us, not just in a footballing sense but because of the character he has.”
Suarez was serving a ban for biting Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini at the 2014 World Cup when he signed for Barcelona from Liverpool for €81 million (Dh339m) in August 2014 and could not make his debut until October of that year.
This week he was involved in a heated exchange of words with former agent Daniel Fonseca who said in a television interview in Uruguay that Suarez “has psychological problems”.
The striker is the Primera Liga leaders Barca’s top scorer this season with 45 goals in all competitions.
“Luis Suarez is a very intelligent guy. When he arrived here he knew he’d be in the eye of the storm for anything he did,” Enrique said.
Barca are six points clear of second-placed Atletico Madrid ahead of the game at Sociedad where they have not won since 2007.
“It’s a very difficult trip for us, the most difficult place to go for us in the league,” said Enrique, who is also without injured trio Aleix Vidal, Jeremy Mathieu and Sandro Ramirez.
Spain forward Munir El Haddadi, 20, is expected to take Suarez’s place up front.
“The absence of Suarez won’t condition our tactics at all, I have an incredible squad,” Enrique said.
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How Alia's experiment will help humans get to Mars
Alia’s winning experiment examined how genes might change under the stresses caused by being in space, such as cosmic radiation and microgravity.
Her samples were placed in a machine on board the International Space Station. called a miniPCR thermal cycler, which can copy DNA multiple times.
After the samples were examined on return to Earth, scientists were able to successfully detect changes caused by being in space in the way DNA transmits instructions through proteins and other molecules in living organisms.
Although Alia’s samples were taken from nematode worms, the results have much bigger long term applications, especially for human space flight and long term missions, such as to Mars.
It also means that the first DNA experiments using human genomes can now be carried out on the ISS.
Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
Rating: 5/5
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The specs
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Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Max touring range: 620km / 590km
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The Perfect Couple
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
AUSTRALIA SQUAD
Aaron Finch, Matt Renshaw, Brendan Doggett, Michael Neser, Usman Khawaja, Shaun Marsh, Mitchell Marsh, Tim Paine (captain), Travis Head, Marnus Labuschagne, Nathan Lyon, Jon Holland, Ashton Agar, Mitchell Starc, Peter Siddle
Biog:
Age: 34
Favourite superhero: Batman
Favourite sport: anything extreme
Favourite person: Muhammad Ali
Greatest of All Time
Starring: Vijay, Sneha, Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Mohan
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World record transfers
1. Kylian Mbappe - to Real Madrid in 2017/18 - €180 million (Dh770.4m - if a deal goes through)
2. Paul Pogba - to Manchester United in 2016/17 - €105m
3. Gareth Bale - to Real Madrid in 2013/14 - €101m
4. Cristiano Ronaldo - to Real Madrid in 2009/10 - €94m
5. Gonzalo Higuain - to Juventus in 2016/17 - €90m
6. Neymar - to Barcelona in 2013/14 - €88.2m
7. Romelu Lukaku - to Manchester United in 2017/18 - €84.7m
8. Luis Suarez - to Barcelona in 2014/15 - €81.72m
9. Angel di Maria - to Manchester United in 2014/15 - €75m
10. James Rodriguez - to Real Madrid in 2014/15 - €75m
Villains
Queens of the Stone Age
Matador
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5pm: Handicap (TB) Dh100,000 2,400m
5.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh 70,000 2,200m
6pm: Abu Dhabi Fillies Classic Prestige (PA) Dh110,000 1,400m
6.30pm: Abu Dhabi Colts Classic Prestige (PA) Dh110,000 1,400m
7pm: Handicap (PA) Dh85,000 1,600m
7.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 1,600m
The National selections:
5pm: Valcartier
5.30pm: AF Taraha
6pm: Dhafra
6.30pm: Maqam
7pm: AF Mekhbat
7.30pm: Ezz Al Rawasi
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