- Luis Suarez scored the winning goal against Valladolid on Saturday to clinch Atletico Madrid, Spain's La Liga title.
- The 34-year-old was sold by Barcelona last summer because he was "too old."
- "Barcelona didn't value me and Atletico opened their doors for me," said Suarez.
Luis Suarez scored the goal that won Atletico Madrid the La Liga title, just a year after he was sold by rival FC Barcelona because he was "too old."
The Uruguayan striker hit Atletico's winner in a 2-1 victory over Real Valladolid on Saturday to clinch the title for Diego Simeone's side for the first time since 2013/14.
Suarez, 34, joined Atletico last summer from Barcelona in a deal worth $7 million. The Catalan club sold him because it believed he was "too old" to perform at the highest level, reports Goal.
His goal versus Valladolid was his 21st of the season in La Liga, making him the fourth top scorer in the division, behind Villarreal's Gerard Moreno, Real Madrid's Karim Benzema, and former Barcelona teammate Lionel Messi.
"Barcelona didn't value me and Atletico opened their doors for me," said Suarez after the win over Valladolid, per the Liverpool Echo.
"I will always be grateful to this club for trusting in me."
The former Liverpool star added that he believes Messi, who was his closest friend at Barca, will be happy for him to have won the title.
"I'm sure (Lionel) Messi is happy for me as a friend," he said. "It was a difficult situation that I had to experience because of the way I was treated.
"Atletico had a great season despite the difficulties. It wasn't normal that we had such a good first half of the season and it wasn't normal that we had that big dip either but in the end, we end up as champions."
Atletico finished the campaign two points ahead of Real Madrid, which ended the season without a trophy for the first time since 2010, and seven points ahead of third-place Barcelona.
The defeat for Valladolid means it drops back into the Spanish second division after two seasons in the top flight.
"The club is growing, the club has done a fabulous job,' Simeone said.
"It's more important than the results. We have always been fighting everybody to win this trophy, this is what it is all about. It is such a unified club. I think people sometimes get bored of me and my approach but I am such a stubborn person."
On Suarez, Simeone added: "He's Suarez. I said this a few days ago, maybe he was lucky, maybe I was lucky, but that surname speaks for himself."
