Barcelona coach Valverde dismisses claims Suarez needs to be dropped

Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde has dismissed claims Luis Suarez needs to be dropped.

Valverde doesn't want to envisage a situation where Barcelona would be playing without the Uruguayan.

"He is fine and had a rest last week when he came off the bench," he said when asked about the No.9's fitness in a press conference on Friday.

"Now we have three matches in a row and we'll see what happens.

"Luis Suarez guarantees we'll have chances in each match, so it'd be difficult to go without him.

"Individuals are always put under the microscope at certain times and it's strange in the case of Suarez because he was under scrutiny before and then scored a lot of goals.

"We're speaking about the fifth-top scorer in the history of the club.

"He had clear chances to score in the past two matches, but we need to be patient.

"That's what he is.

"I have patience and we all do, because he is a great player."