Champions League: Jose Mourinho defends Luis Suarez for celebrating goal against former club Liverpool

What's the story?

Former Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho has defended Barcelona forward Luis Suarez's celebrations following his goal against Liverpool in the Champions League.

In case you didn't know...

Barcelona are one step closer to the Champions League final after beating Liverpool 3-0 in the first leg of their semi-final fixture on Wednesday night.

Former Liverpool star Suarez opened the scoring for the Catalan giants before Lionel Messi netted two goals to secure a much-needed advantage in the fixture.

Suarez was seen wildly celebrating his goal, prompting Liverpool fans and former players to slam him for his alleged disrespect towards his former club.

The Uruguayan forward had a three-year stint at Anfield before moving to Camp Nou in a £75 million transfer.

The heart of the matter

Mourinho has come out in defence of the former Liverpool favourite, stating that the forward's history counts for nothing.

Speaking on Russia Today, the former United boss said (via Metro), "Luis did something which is good and I love it. Many players today in football, they play and sometimes, even playing which is an emotional moment, and is a moment we are paid for, they still care with the image and some moments where people can say, ‘oh, nice fair play’ and, ‘oh, nice, he’s playing against the team where he played for a few years and where he was loved."

"That has nothing to do with this 90 minutes. And for this 90 minutes he forgot that he played for Liverpool."

"The only thing he was focused on was that match, his job, go to the final, win the Champions League. He scored a goal, celebrated the goal, he was fighting people, players he probably loves, players who are probably on the phone [to him] tonight."

What's next?

Liverpool will host Barcelona in the second leg of the semi-final on May 7. It will be interesting to see if Suarez celebrates scoring a goal at Anfield.