The 2013 Liga BBVA season is in the books. Now, FC Barcelona return to the pitch with hopes of embarking on a league-title run in 2014. The club is making its final preparations this afternoon and will face Mexican outfit Leon. The battle for the 2014 Joan Gamper Trophy scheduled for 2:30 p.m. ET will be held at the Nou Camp in Barcelona and can be live streamed here free. Additional TV coverage can be found on beIN Sports.
Though the appeal for his FIFA suspension was denied, Barcelona's Luis Suarez will make his club debut on Monday. The 27-year-old joined the club following the 2014 World Cup, but a fourth-month ban from all footballing activities will prevent him from making his competitive debut until late October. That ban, however, no longer includes training and club friendlies.
Speaking publicly for the first time since the World Cup, Suarez spoke about the suspension and his future at Barcelona. "It [the suspension] was a situation that made me uncomfortable," he said to Barca TV (via Inside Spanish Football). "I'm paying for a mistake I made, and which I already apologized for, but you have to forget that. I'm very happy to feel like a football player again and to be with the teammates. I was really eager to get started."
"The future is to be in FC Barcelona," he added. "The club where I had dreamed to play. Now, I have to wait to be able to play again, to be in contact with the fans and to have the sensation of playing at a stadium as beautiful as the Camp Nou."
Suárez would go on to express his gratitude to Barcelona for supporting him throughout the summer.
"I'm very grateful for the club for everything they've done for me in these last weeks and days." he said. " They've treated me very well and I appreciate that because I am realizing a dream, which is to play in Barcelona."
Suarez will be able to live out his dream with this projected starting XI (4-3-3): Bravo; Alves, Mathieu, Pique, Alba; Rakitic, Iniesta, Busquets; Suarez, Messi, Pedro
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