The Colombian striker luis suarez He is experiencing the most important season of his professional career. After almost a decade of experience in Spanish football, with training and consolidation steps in clubs such as Zaragoza, Granada and AlmeríaThe attacker found in Sporting de Portugal the ideal setting to make the big leap. The attacker’s next challenge will be this Tuesday, January 20, when Sporting receives the Paris Saint Germain by Luis Enriquecurrent European champion, in the Champions League.
A high-caliber duel that represents much more than three points: it is an opportunity for Suárez to continue building his name on the continent and, at the same time, for the Lisbon club to reaffirm its international ambition against one of the giants of world football.
luis suarez Photo:AFP
His impact has been immediate and forceful: nearly 20 goals in just half a year, prominence in both the Portuguese League and the Champions League, and a growing relevance within the Colombia team, which projects him as one of the offensive cards for the 2026 World Cup.
Follow in the footsteps of Luis Díaz against PSG
Luis Javier Suarez Photo:Luis Javier Suarez
The match against PSG also has a symbolic component for Luis Suárez. In the Colombian locker room and in the European football environment, the memory of the night in which luis diaz He was the protagonist against the Parisian team, scoring a double that left its mark. That match was marked not only by the goals of the Guajiro winger, but also by the expulsion that Díaz suffered, an episode that added tension and controversy to a performance that, despite everything, ended up being decisive.
Luis Díaz celebrates goal. Photo:AFP
That precedent is today a direct reference for Suárez. The Sporting forward does not hide his desire to follow in the footsteps of Luis Díaz, to emulate that impact against PSG and to add his name to a short list of Colombians who have managed to shine against the powerful French club on European nights. More than a football comparison, it is an aspiration of path and hierarchy: He responds on the big stage, against a strong rival and under the maximum pressure of the Champions League.
For Suárez, scoring against PSG would not only mean ratifying his extraordinary scoring moment, but also sending a clear message of personal and collective ambition, in a season in which Sporting has shown that it is not satisfied with competing, but is seeking real prominence in Europe.
Luis Javier Suarez Photo:AFP
From offensive relief to reference heading to the 2026 World Cup
In strictly sporting terms, the numbers support the present of the Colombian attacker. In the Portuguese League he has 15 goals, in addition to decisive performances on the international level. He has scored a hat-trick and three doubles, and his name regularly appears in the headlines of the Portuguese press. However, his most memorable performance of the last year came with the team’s shirt. Colombia National Team, when on September 10 he scored four goals in just 25 minutes against Venezuela, in a qualifying match for the 2026 World Cup that ended up changing his status within the national team.
Luis Suárez celebrates with Colombia. Photo:AFP
Sporting opted for Suárez after the departure of Swede Viktor Gyökeres to Arsenal, trusting in his experience and football maturity. At 28 years old, the Colombian arrived from Almería, a club where last season he scored 27 goals in the Spanish Second Division, figures that made him one of the most effective forwards in the championship.
Trained at Leones FC in Colombia, Suárez began his path in Spain in the youth categories of Granada. He went through Valladolid in Second B and made his first big leap at Real Zaragoza, where he scored 19 goals in the 2019-20 campaign. He later returned to Granada, made his debut in European competitions and had a brief spell at Marseille before definitively establishing himself at Almería and making the leap to Portuguese football.
He debuted with the Colombian National Team in November 2020, under the direction of Carlos Queirozbut it was only this season when he achieved continuity and full confidence. Today he is one of the great assets of the national team, which is already thinking about the 2026 World Cup, where it will share a group with teams like Portugal and Uzbekistan.
The duel against PSG thus appears as a litmus test. For Sporting, who already knows what it means to knock down giants – as they did last season by beating Manchester City 4-1 -, and for Luis Suárez, who seeks to follow the path set by Luis Díaz: shine against the European champion and leave an indelible mark on a big night of continental football.
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*This article was rewritten with the help of artificial intelligence, with information from the EFE agency, and the review of an editor.
