Dani Alves regrets turning down the chance to play under Pep Guardiola at Manchester City.

The Brazil international opted to join Paris Saint-Germain in 2017 after leaving Juventus following a one-year spell in Italy.

He looks back fondly at his fine spell with PSG that led to six trophies including two Ligue 1 titles.

But Alves, who won two of his three Champions League crowns under Guardiola at Barcelona, now looks back and wishes he had taken a chance to work with the Catalan coach once more.

Alves, 38, told SporTV: "I regret not going to Manchester City to work with Guardiola again.

"When you are with people like him [Guardiola], who always finds a way out, it adds a lot to you. My regret was not having gone to work with him again.

"But not [regret] for PSG, because the story that I lived at PSG was incredible."

After spending two years with PSG, Alves is back in Brazil playing for Sao Paulo, who he joined in 2019.

City, meanwhile, face Chelsea on Saturday as they seek their first Champions League title.

Guardiola's side are the ninth different English team to reach a European Cup or Champions League final, at least three more than any other nation (Germany and Italy have six).

However, only one of the last 10 teams competing in their first final have won the competition (Borussia Dortmund against Juventus in 1997).

The last English team to win in their first final were Aston Villa in 1982 against Bayern Munich.

Bruno Fernandes and Luke Shaw are adamant Manchester United do not need any form of motivation or inspiration from the club's iconic former manager Alex Ferguson ahead of Wednesday's Europa League final.

United face Villarreal in Gdansk as they look to win their first piece of silverware since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer replaced Jose Mourinho in December 2018.

Solskjaer's former boss Ferguson is staying in the same hotel as the United squad and has been particularly prominent in the media of late, granting numerous interviews after largely avoiding the press in his eight years since retirement.

Ferguson led United to two Champions League successes – among many other titles – during his storied reign at the club, therefore knows plenty about the pressures and emotions that come with such occasions.

But Shaw and Fernandes stressed they are in no need of any extra motivation or pep talks from Ferguson as they look to sink the Yellow Submarine.

Speaking to the media, Shaw said: "I wouldn't expect him to speak to us. I am sure we don't need people to inspire us for the game tomorrow, as much of a legend as he [Ferguson] is.

"Inside our group we need to do that ourselves. Of course, I'm sat next to the manager now and I am sure he'll be doing that tomorrow, so I'm not sure we'll be seeing too much of Sir Alex tomorrow."

Fernandes continued: "I think we have a coach who passed a lot of time with Alex Ferguson so everything he could say to us, he [Solskjaer] already knows. We trust our coach.

"The team is confident. We trust ourselves, we know what we have to do. This is our moment to do our best.

"We trained well the days before, we have another day to train. Make the job tomorrow, enjoy the moment – being in the final is not for everyone."

It will be United's first European final since the 2016-17 edition of this competition, when they defeated Ajax 2-0 under Mourinho – before that they had gone nine years without a trophy in Europe.

Even reaching the final this time around is something of a milestone, particularly for Solskjaer, as United's record in semi-finals prior to their two-legged tie with Roma was poor under the Norwegian.

The 8-5 aggregate win over Roma ended a run of four successive semi-final eliminations for United under Solskjaer, whose only other final as a manager was in the 2013 Norwegian Cup, and the club's players will relish the chance to end their trophy drought.

"We come to this club because we want to win. It doesn't matter if the club doesn't win for many years, the hope is still there," Fernandes said.

"Trophies are part of this club. Every player knows he will come to United to fight for trophies, to be a better player.

"If you look to history, you have to look to the history, pressure is part of your life. I like the pressure, that's good for me.

"The most important for us is to try to win the game. Everything can happen, but we can control some stuff. Most importantly, the team is growing up and tomorrow will be a sign of that."

Trent Alexander-Arnold received praise to go with his recall from Gareth Southgate as the England boss hedged his bets for Euro 2020 by naming a 33-man provisional squad.

The Liverpool right-back could yet face exclusion agony when Southgate trims his list to 26 next week, but for now Alexander-Arnold is back in the England picture.

Once seen as a player who would hold down the right full-back berth for England for years to come, the 22-year-old was dramatically dropped from Southgate's squad in March, with the head coach questioning his recent level of performance at club level.

Atletico Madrid's Kieran Trippier and Manchester City's Kyle Walker – both title winners with their clubs this season – look to be ahead of Alexander-Arnold, who may be battling Chelsea's Reece James for a place in the final group.

After a late-season surge to a Champions League place by Liverpool, helped by an improved Alexander-Arnold, the England head coach was left with a quandary.

"I could easily get drawn into individuals who might be in the 26, get myself in a mess," said Southgate in a news conference following his squad announcement.

"People feel I have an obsession with right-backs. I see four good footballers. Trippier can play right-back or left-back, Trent can play right-back, wing-back. I think he can play in midfield.

"In the last few days I've seen Reece James play right in a three, at wing-back, in midfield. We're going to a tournament and those sorts of flexible players that can fulfill different roles but are good footballers are going to be hugely important for us.

"We don't know how it will play out with injuries, what our best systems will be with people available, we've got too many question marks.

"That will all become far clearer. We know what we'd like to do, we've got good contingencies in place."

Southgate selected an expanded squad because of injury worries over the likes of Harry Maguire and Jordan Henderson, the captains of Manchester United and Liverpool. By including Alexander-Arnold, Southgate at least delays any criticism over his exclusion, and it may be that a space opens up for the attack-minded defender.

Alexander-Arnold is a slightly different flavour of defender to Southgate's other options, as a player who had 13 assists in Liverpool's 2019-20 title-winning campaign and seven in the league season just ended.

James has just two Premier League assists in 2020-21 and Walker only one, with the City defender creating just eight chances compared to the 77 set up by Alexander-Arnold. Trippier assisted on six goals in LaLiga, however.

James, Walker and Trippier are all well ahead of Alexander-Arnold in terms of dribble and tackle success rates, and Southgate can be expected to be aware of such factors.

Alexander-Arnold's 2020-21 league dribble success rate stood at just 47.06 per cent, with Walker posting 53.33 per cent, James 65.38 per cent and Trippier 76 per cent.

In tackling success, Alexander-Arnold's 58.93 per cent success rate was beaten by his three right-back rivals, who each scored at least 63 per cent, led by 65.52 per cent by Walker.

The Liverpool man's attempted dribbles may at times have been high-tariff manoeuvres, given he regularly plays high up the field, but Alexander-Arnold loses possession at a rate that could give England problems. He gave up the ball 25.49 times on average per 90 minutes in 2020-21 league action, compared to 14.83 by James, 16.35 by Trippier and a mere 13.32 by Walker.

As Southgate toys with that big call, he must also decide whether Mason Greenwood, United's 19-year-old forward, makes the cut.

Greenwood scored just seven Premier League goals at one every 261 minutes in 2020-21 but, after a strong end to the campaign, he has again caught the eye of England's manager, who sent him home along with Phil Foden at the start of the season after a breach of COVID-19 protocol while on national team duty in Iceland.

"In terms of the past it is absolutely the past," Southgate said. "Young people make mistakes, we move on from it, the same with Phil [Foden].

"He's an absolutely outstanding finisher, no question about that."

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer hopes the presence of Sir Alex Ferguson will help inspire his Manchester United players to "take the next step" by winning the Europa League.

Legendary former manager Ferguson, who won 38 trophies in 26 years at Old Trafford, has travelled with the United squad to Gdansk ahead of Wednesday's final with Villarreal 

The Red Devils face Spanish side Villarreal seeking their first silverware since Solskjaer took over from Jose Mourinho in December 2018, initially on a caretaker basis.

It also marks just Solskjaer's second final as a manager, having won the 2013 Norwegian Cup with Molde, where he also lifted the Tippeligaen in 2011 and 2012.

After ending his curse of losing in four cup semi-finals as United boss, Solskjaer believes a first trophy for his current crop of players can be a springboard for further success.

"Of course, when players get the taste of success, it can go one of two ways," Solskjaer said at Tuesday's pre-match news conference. 

"Now we've done it, or how I felt before, it gives you that feeling of being hungry for more. You want that feeling again. 

"For this group, working hard for a year or two, it's a next step for them now to go and enjoy a game like this.

"These are big nights for us. It might be the stepping stone for something better to come. This team is a young team, a team that we've rebuilt. 

"Hopefully this is the start of something more. Sir Alex is with us, the 26th of May is Sir Matt [Busby]'s birthday. 

"When the players sign for Manchester United, they sign to win, to accept the challenge of being the best. 

"This is the best club of the world, this is the pleasure of the pressure. They wouldn't have signed if they weren't top players."

Asked about Ferguson's role in United's preparations, Solskjaer said: "He flew out with us yesterday. Some of us went to see his documentary.

"I sat there thinking about this special man. He's an encyclopaedia of football. When we eat in the restaurant, if the players wonder about something, they can ask him. 

"He's always available. I hope he's going to enjoy it as well. I owe most of my career to him and this club."

Wednesday's match will be United's eighth major European final, which is the second-most of any English club after Liverpool (14).

United, who have won five of those previous seven finals, are expected to be without key man Harry Maguire against Villarreal as the defender continues to nurse an ankle injury.

Maguire was included in United's squad, despite missing his side's final four league games of the season, but Solskjaer is not overly confident the centre-back will be ready to feature.

"We've prepared well," Solskjaer said. "Anthony [Martial] didn't make it, Phil [Jones] of course didn't make it and Harry is just probably going to jog up and down the sideline [in training].

"He'll probably try to join in the training session a little but apart from that we're looking quite good.

"It's always difficult to leave players out. But throughout the whole season, a final is a reward for what you've done the whole season.

"We'll enjoy the last training session and the players will learn the team tomorrow."

United rounded off their Premier League campaign with a 2-1 win at Wolves to finish in second place, 12 points behind runaway champions Manchester City.

Solskjaer is pleased with the progress made season-on-season and insists his players will be ready for the huge showdown with Unai Emery's Villarreal.

"I've got enough self-belief in myself, whatever circumstances I've been in," he said.  "I trust in the players, who I know are ready. I've seen in them something growing.

"I'm confident that we're ready for this now. Every player who goes into a final has the pressure to win. You have to play to win, we expect to win, but I'm sure Unai feels the same. 

"It's been a long qualification to get here and it's 50-50. I feel confident that we are ready for this. In a final, anything can happen and we have to be ready for everything."

United are facing Villarreal for a fifth time, with each of the previous four meetings – all in the Champions League between 2005-06 and 2008-09 – finishing goalless 

The Red Devils have faced Villarreal more times without ever scoring than they have any other opponent in their history.

Bianca Andreescu was in good form again as she saw off Maryna Zanevska to reach the last eight at the Internationaux de Strasbourg.

Until this week the Canadian had been absent from the WTA Tour since making the final in Miami back in March, missing recent events after a positive COVID-19 test.

But she has now won two straight matches on clay for the first time in her career, having barely played on the surface at tour level before.

Top seed Andreescu was playing an opponent ranked outside of the world's top 250 for a second straight day, though she emphatically did the job against qualifier Zanevska, winning 6-1 6-4 in just 65 minutes.

Aside from needing to recover from 4-2 down in the second set, Andreescu had few problems and converted all five of the break points she forced in the contest.

However, the second seed at the WTA 250 event is out.

Australian Open quarter-finalist Jessica Pegula was upset by Arantxa Rus, losing 6-4 6-4.

Pegula won only 10 of her 31 points on second serve as she was broken on five occasions.

But there was relief for seventh seed Shelby Rogers, who won an epic contest lasting three hours and 23 minutes against fellow American Christina McHale.

Rogers won 7-5 6-7 (6-8) 7-5 in a memorable clash. The eventual winner was a point away from wrapping up the victory in straight sets before later needing to save a match point herself in the decider.

England manager Gareth Southgate has named his provisional 33-man squad for the rearranged Euro 2020, which starts next month. 

The Three Lions boss has until midnight on June 1 to cut his squad down to 26, but he will have time to assess players in training ahead of friendlies against Austria and Romania on June 2 and June 6 respectively.

England then start their Euros campaign at Wembley on June 13, taking on Croatia. Scotland are next up in Group D, before they face the Czech Republic on June 22.

Here, Stats Perform looks at the data behind some of the notable inclusions – including a midfielder who could become England's youngest player at a major tournament – and eye-catching omissions from Southgate's preliminary selection.

Bellingham on course to break Owen's record

Jude Bellingham has enjoyed a stunning debut season at Borussia Dortmund following his move from Championship side Birmingham City for a reported €23million (£21m). 

He made 19 appearances in the Bundesliga, scoring once, and became the youngest English player to net in the Champions League when he struck against Manchester City in the quarter-finals, aged 17 years and 289 days. 

The midfielder made his England debut as a substitute against the Republic of Ireland in November, which he followed up with another appearance from the bench in the World Cup qualifying win over San Marino in March. 

Bellingham is expected to make Southgate's final squad and should he feature in any of the games – a near-certainity given the supreme confidence with which he has taken to elite-level football – he will break Michael Owen's 23-year record as the youngest player to feature for the Three Lions at a major tournament. 

He could also be joined by two other teenagers, with Arsenal's Bukayo Saka and Manchester United forward Mason Greenwood, who are both still yet to turn 20, also in Southgate's long list.

The inclusion of that trio meant the average age of the squad on Tuesday was just 25 years and 12 days. 

Alexander-Arnold storms back into contention

Liverpool right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold was controversially left out of England's squad for the March internationals, but a strong end to the season saw him included in Southgate's pool of players this time around.

The Liverpool right-back certainly struggled in the early stages of the campaign, but he finished it having created more chances (77) than any other defender in the Premier League. 

He also had more goal involvements (two goals, seven assists) and tallied up more successful crosses (37) than any other defender, while only Leeds United's Luke Ayling (279) made more than his 258 recoveries. 

A surprise inclusion in defence was Brighton and Hove Albion's Ben White. 

The 23-year-old quietly went about his business with Graham Potter's side and ended the campaign with the best combined tackles and interceptions ratio per 90 minutes (3.13) of any English centre back who played more than 900 minutes. He was significantly ahead of second-placed Harry Maguire (2.63), who has also been included in the squad despite injury concerns. 

White also has the highest average carry distance (11.4 metres) of that group of players, ahead of John Stones (11.2) and Maguire (11.1), while he also made the most carries which resulted in taking an opposition player on (18). A carry is defined as when a player travels five or more metres with the ball.

Everton defender Ben Godfrey was also selected for the provisional squad, with Southgate saying of the pair: "I think they're both exciting young defenders, they can play left, right, midfield in White's case.

"It's an opportunity for us to know them better. I think it works for everybody. Not knowing how long they'll be with us at this stage, but it'll be a fantastic experience for them."

'Difficult call' to leave Dier out

While a number of players will consider themselves unfortunate to miss out, James Maddison, Eric Dier, Danny Ings and Patrick Bamford were arguably the four most glaring omissions.

Dier, in particular, will feel aggrieved to have been snubbed, having been a key member in the run to the World Cup 2018 semi-finals and a regular in the squad since, but he has struggled for form for Tottenham this term.

He gave away two penalties in his 28 appearances in 2020-21 – only Kyle Walker and team-mate Davinson Sanchez (three) conceded more in the English top flight.

Explaining his decision to not call up Dier, Southgate said: "Unfortunately, I don't think his season has been strong enough to be in the squad. It's a difficult call because I know how much he brings to the whole group and when you're at a tournament those team players are critical."

Maddison has not always been a favourite of Southgate's, meanwhile.

The attacking midfielder managed eight goals and five assists in 31 Premier League appearances for Leicester City this season. However, of the seven other midfielders to have been directly involved in more goals than Maddison's 13, three of them – Phil Foden (14), James Ward-Prowse (15) and Jack Grealish (16) – are part of England's squad.

Maddison created an average of 2.18 chances per 90 minutes in an injury hampered 2020-21 league campaign, which is again below the likes of Mason Mount (2.71) and Grealish (3.34), but ahead of Foden (2.01), Ward-Prowse (1.58) and Jesse Lingard (1.14).

FA Cup Winners 2021 Dreams really do come true  pic.twitter.com/EHdXsgKTEg

— James Maddison (@Madders10) May 15, 2021

"It's an area of the pitch where we've got unbelievable competition for places," Southgate said. "We just feel there are players ahead of James in those areas."

As for Ings and Bamford, the pair scored 12 and 17 top-flight goals for Southampton and Leeds respectively this season.

Bamford's average of 0.5 goals per 90 minutes and Ings' 0.49 ranks them favourably among English strikers in the Premier League, ahead of Marcus Rashford (0.34), Greenwood (0.34) and Ollie Watkins (0.38), who they were competing with for a squad place.

"There is of course Danny and Patrick, who have had very good seasons," Southgate said. "But we didn't see any reason to change these positions from the players who did very well with us in the three qualifiers that we won in March."

Gareth Southgate is relishing the prospect of going all the way at Euro 2020 and called on his England squad to stamp their names in the history of international football.

Southgate announced his 33-man provisional squad for the upcoming tournament – delayed by a year due to the coronavirus pandemic – on Tuesday.

The England boss will have to cut that number to 26 by June 1, ahead of friendlies against Austria and Romania. The Three Lions start their Euro 2020 campaign in earnest on June 13, taking on Croatia.

With a wealth of talent at his disposal, albeit Southgate holds doubts over the fitness of the likes of Jordan Henderson, Jack Grealish and Harry Maguire, the England boss is hoping for a long run in the tournament – the last three matches of which will be held at Wembley.

But, after a run to the semi-finals at the 2018 World Cup, Southgate knows his players have to step up and deliver in the crucial moments.

"It's a great challenge for all of our players," he told a news conference.

"We have some players that should be close to their prime and we have a lot of young players that everybody's excited about and rightly so.

"These stages, big games, big moments are where you make your reputation, legacy and stamp your name on football history.

"That's what's so exciting for the players to be involved in, when you think about big players of the past, a lot of those moments are in an international shirt.

"That's the opportunity they have now. To be big players we have to step up in those moments and if we want to be a successful team, we have to live with the pressure that comes with expectation.

"It's exciting to lead a team into a European Championship that has an opportunity to bring the country out of the gloom of the last few months. To have fans back in the stadium has already been so exciting to see at the end of the league season and late stages of the cup ties, so we're really looking forward to the whole experience."

Southgate has previously spoken out against naming larger squads, but he felt the uncertainties over the fitness of several players, along with the fact 11 of his provisional selection are involved in European finals this week, required the need for a 33-man pool to then trim down.

However, Southgate does share the concerns of Spain boss Luis Enrique, who on Monday named only a 24-man squad, leaving out stalwart Sergio Ramos.

"I'm still not a fan of 26. As Luis Enrique said, you want everybody to feel that they're there and thereabouts," he added.

"We could end up, if we've got everybody fit and available, with people not even on the bench, so that's not a great team dynamic.

"But I think the risk of not taking 26, especially with injury doubts and we don't know what will happen with COVID ... so we felt that's important.

"I think Luis has gone smaller partly for the harmony of the group, but he's also got the backup knowing the under-21s are in their European finals and if they have any issues in the first 10 days or so, I'd expect he'd be able to call in some very good quality players from that group.

"I don't know all of his thinking but I suspect that's a good fallback, whereas with us we'd be calling players off the beach after a fortnight and that won't work, really, so everybody's going to approach that differently. Everybody's circumstances are a bit different."

Southgate also confirmed that the players of Manchester United, Chelsea and Manchester City would be handed extra time off after their respective Europa League and Champions League showdowns.

"We'll give them a period of rest after the finals. That's exactly how we approached it ahead of [the World Cup in] Russia, we had Henderson and Trent [Alexander-Arnold] come in late for that," Southgate said.

"To have a break with their families was their preference and we think that is invaluable time given our aim is to be here for nine games, including the friendlies, and from the start of the tournament onwards there's a fair chance we won't be able to see families.

"Those players will report later. It's probably not going to be exactly a week, but it'll be five or six days depending on the games and when they're due to report."

Jay O'Shea scored two penalties as Brisbane Roar cruised past A-League premiers Melbourne Victory 3-0 on Tuesday. 

Melbourne made a host of changes to their starting XI after lifting the Premiers Plate on Saturday and they were comfortably beaten at Moreton Daily Stadium. 

O'Shea put the hosts ahead after just six minutes, tucking home from the spot after Daniel Georgievski had brought down Alex Parsons in the penalty area. 

Parsons then added a second seven minutes before the interval with a low strike that flew past stand-in goalkeeper Matthew Sutton. 

O'Shea rounded off the scoring seven minutes after the restart, again firing home from the spot after Alec Mills had fouled Jesse Daley in the area to cap a win that moved Brisbane up to fourth in the table.

Jay O'Shea scored two penalties as Brisbane Roar cruised past A-League premiers Melbourne City 3-0 on Tuesday. 

Melbourne made a host of changes to their starting XI after lifting the Premiers Plate on Saturday and they were comfortably beaten at Moreton Daily Stadium. 

O'Shea put the hosts ahead after just six minutes, tucking home from the spot after Daniel Georgievski had brought down Alex Parsons in the penalty area. 

Parsons then added a second seven minutes before the interval with a low strike that flew past stand-in goalkeeper Matthew Sutton. 

O'Shea rounded off the scoring seven minutes after the restart, again firing home from the spot after Alec Mills had fouled Jesse Daley in the area to cap a win that moved Brisbane up to fourth in the table.

Paris Saint-Germain youngster Kays Ruiz-Atil has confirmed he will leave the club when his contract expires next month.

The 18-year-old featured seven times for PSG in Ligue 1 this season, all but one of those outings coming from the substitutes' bench.

Ruiz-Atil joined the French giants in 2015 from Barcelona – where he spent six years in the famed La Masia academy – and made his senior debut in September's 1-0 loss to Lens.

A return to Barca has been touted for the teenager, while a reunion with Thomas Tuchel at Chelsea is also reportedly being considered.

Announcing his departure on Instagram on Tuesday, Ruiz-Aril posted: "Thanks from the bottom of my heart to the whole club, the president, the staff, the different coaches.

"Each time you see Kays Ruiz, know that my heart will always be with yours where the supporters' chant of 'Ici c'est Paris' will forever resonate."

Across his seven appearances in 2020-21 – each of which came before Mauricio Pochettino replaced Tuchel – the youngster totalled 180 minutes of playing time.

In this limited involvement, Ruiz-Atil averaged 89.5 passes per 90 minutes in Ligue 1 – the fifth-highest return of any player to have been used more than once.

The 55.2 passes per 90 in the opposition half were also fifth-highest, as soon-to-be former team-mate Marco Verratti led the way with 72.6 across 21 matches.

Gareth Southgate does not expect any transfer involving Harry Kane to progress during Euro 2020.

England captain Kane was named in Southgate's provisional 33-man Three Lions squad on Tuesday.

The Tottenham striker is expected to be the subject of intense speculation this close-season after widespread reports revealed his desire to leave the club.

Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea are among the clubs said to be interested in Kane, who finished 2020-21 as the Premier League's top goalscorer.

Kane earned his third Golden Boot, becoming only the third player – after Thierry Henry (four) and Alan Shearer – to achieve such a feat.

The 27-year-old, the leading marksman at the 2018 World Cup, had 23 goals and 14 assists, making him only the second player in the Premier League era to top the charts in both categories (also Andy Cole in 1993-94).

Clubs keen to sign Kane may have to wait until after the European Championship finals, though, according to Southgate.

"I don't ever need to have a conversation with Harry about focus or professioanlism," Southgate said.

"He's got one goal with us and that's to win a European Championship. That's his goal at this time.

"What's going on at his club is between him and Spurs. He's made statements, but in many ways that's out of the way now. It's very unlikely that we have transfers while we're away.

"It's different in September, often on that [transfer] deadline.

"I'm realistic about those things, we're not going to stop phones ringing, we can't control conversations in private. But most moves are done after tournaments or in the week before.

"I would expect anything across the board with our players to be after the tournament."

Kane's 37 goal involvements were his most across a league season in his career, his 14 assists doubling a previous high of seven in 2016-17.

That improvement has come as a result of Kane dropping into a deeper role, a position Southgate has always believed him capable of playing.

"Harry has always had that capability as a player, always been able to play at nine or 10," the manager said.

"It's clearly more pronounced this year in terms of the numbers, with certain games like at Southampton where he created four for Son [Heung-min]. There are clear patterns that have created goals for them.

"He's always done that for us. For a centre-forward with such an outstanding goalscoring record, he's got a fantastic range of passing as well."

Luis Suarez has slammed Ronald Koeman for lacking personality and also hit out at former Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu after winning LaLiga with Atletico Madrid.

The 34-year-old striker was controversially allowed to leave Barca for domestic rivals Atletico after six successful seasons at Camp Nou.

Suarez responded by firing in 21 goals in 32 league matches for Atleti, including two in their final two matches in priceless wins against Osasuna and Real Valladolid. The latter goal ultimately sealed the title, with his league strikes leading to 22 points in total across the season.

The Uruguay forward has regularly discussed how hurt he was by his Barca departure and looked at it from a fresh angle after showing his emotion when Atleti got over the line to claim league glory.

Suarez told El Partidazo de COPE: "The tears were of happiness. It was because of the situation.

"I will always be grateful to Barcelona and I'm never going to go against Barcelona, they have given me everything and allowed me to get to the elite.

"But obviously the president [Bartomeu] said everything in the press instead of calling me.

"Then the moment they wanted Leo [Messi] to stay they called me to use me to convince him, to talk to [Antoine] Griezmann – so why didn't they call me when they wanted me to leave?

"Or why did the coach not come and tell me that he does not count on me because he wants another type of striker?

"Koeman told me I wasn't in his plans, then he said, 'If we don't figure this out by tomorrow, you're back in my plans and I'm counting on you against Villarreal'.

"I saw then that the man had no personality. He was not strong enough to tell me I was not needed. The decision [to sell] came from the board.

"No one [from Barca's management has] congratulated me, but I nearly sent them a photo!"

Suarez added he would find it "impossible" to leave Atleti ahead of next season, the club having confirmed he will stay for the second year of his contract should he wish to do so.

Atleti boss Diego Simeone, meanwhile, has discussed the circumstances around signing Suarez, insisting he was not going to let the opportunity slide.

"I met a man. I expected nothing less," Simone said to ESPN about Suarez.

"I was very happy from the first day I spoke with him, I had already spoken with him when he was at Liverpool, in an effort for him to sign with us but he chose Barcelona.

"And when the possibility [for Atletico to sign him] appeared, the club called me and said, 'What do you think about the possibility of Luis Suarez coming?' and I replied, 'Are you serious?' Don't ask me, let's go for it, let me talk to him'.

"When I spoke to him, the first thing I said to him was, 'Look Luis, we need to win, and you want to win, the door is open.

"There are players who are chosen with the magic wand, like Suarez, he is a winner.

"He came with all the questions about his departure at Barcelona and arrived with a rebellion of a 20-year-old boy, with an enthusiasm, wanting to show that he was a force.

"And when a guy who is used to winning, joins a team that needs to win it can paint [a perfect picture]."