Denis Suárez on training with Messi and Iniesta: “Brutal”

Photo by TF-Images/TF-Images via Getty Images

The former Barça midfielder remembered his time in Catalonia

Denis Suárez failed to reach the heights he and most Barcelona fans expected after a couple of underwhelming seasons at Camp Nou, but the Celta Vigo midfielder still has fond memories from his time in Catalonia.

Speaking in an interview with The Athletic, Denis talked about his decision to leave Manchester City for Barça in 2013, although he didn’t get to play for Barça until 2016 after a couple of loan spells in La Liga.

But having finally landed at the greatest club on Earth, the Spanish international really relished the chance to play (and train) with a couple of all-time greats: Lionel Messi and Andrés Iniesta.

“I was at City for two years. They wanted me to renew but I preferred to go to Barcelona. Nobody knows what would have happened.

“Maybe if I had stayed, I would be playing regularly there, but I took that decision to go to Barcelona and it was the right one for me because I played a lot of games for their first team.

“And to train with Lionel Messi and Andres Iniesta… brutal. Leo is the best. Andres is an example for me. I couldn’t wait to learn from them and play with them, Messi trains how he plays. He loves to win: in every session, he has to win.”

Source: The Athletic via Goal

Just to clarify, the word “brutal” has a different meaning in Spanish as it does in English: it has mostly a positive conotation, used when someone really wants to convey how good and impressive a certain person or situation is. Denis is saying Messi and Iniesta were just exceptional in training, which is hard to doubt.

Source: barcablaugranes.com