Diego Simeone tips Luis Suarez to end barren Champions League run

Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone is hopeful his star forward Luis Suarez can break a six-year goalless duck in the Champions League.

Hailed as one of the most prolific strikers in modern football history, Suarez belongs to a distinguished group of 51 players to smash a 500-goal milestone.

However, the Uruguayan marksman has struggled in Europe’s premier club competition, accruing just 26 Champions League goals during his illustrious career.

And while he tops the scoring charts in La Liga, the 34-year-old continues to underperform on the international scene, having failed to score in an away Champions League fixture for six years.

The last time Suarez got on the scoresheet in a road Champions League match was in Barcelona’s 1-1 away draw with Roma in the 2015/16 group stage.

Having succumbed to a 1-0 first-leg defeat to Chelsea at home, Atletico Madrid will need the former Ajax starlet to end an unwanted record on Stamford Bridge.

The two sides will trade tackles in the return leg of their last-16 tie on Wednesday night, with Los Colchoneros looking to reach the competition’s quarter-finals for the second year running.

In the build-up to the crunch Wednesday showdown, Diego Simeone has called Suarez to put his barren run to a halt.

“Probably tomorrow is the right day for Luis Suarez to end the streak that you are talking about,” the Argentine said, as quoted by Football London.

“Why not? Tomorrow could be a beautiful day.

“The goal is to improve our situation from the first leg. We don’t know how they will approach it. But I know what we want from the match, which is to win it.

“Tomorrow, we just have one result, to win. We have to take the match where we want so we can win with a goal.”