Lionel Messi’s record alongside Luis Suarez

Old friends reunited in 2024 as veteran striker Luis Suarez joined Lionel Messi at Inter Miami after signing a one-year contract.

David Beckham’s Major League Soccer franchise had already managed to convince former Barcelona stars Messi, Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets to ply their trade in the United States, with Suarez adding his name to an all-star cast.

Famously good chums, Messi and Suarez enjoyed some wonderful moments together during their time in Catalonia, conquering the world with their stunning performances, and they are now primed to take MLS by storm.

Here’s how Messi and Suarez’s partnership has blossomed over the years.

Part of the famous ‘MSN’ front three that also included Neymar, both Messi and Suarez boasted ridiculous scoring numbers during their time together at Camp Nou.

The Uruguayan scored a staggering 195 goals for Barca during his six years at the club, while his Argentine teammate bagged an even more incredible 280 times over the same period. Between them, that’s an average of 79 goals a season in all competitions.

Messi and Suarez’s most prolific season together came in 2015/16. The forward duo amassed exactly 100 goals between them (Messi with 41 and Suarez with 59), with the former Ajax and Liverpool striker netting 40 in just 35 La Liga appearances.

The pairing came pretty close to matching that tally the following campaign but ended up on 90 goals, while their least efficient season came just before Suarez departed for Atletico Madrid, only netting a collective 52.

*Current season

Messi and Suarez enjoyed a special, almost telepathic connection on the pitch. The two South American stars regularly laid on goals for one another – 99 in the 258 matches in which they both featured.

Of those 99, Suarez set up 47 goals for Messi, meaning he remains the player that has provided the most assists for the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner.

Messi set up Suarez on 52 occasions for Barcelona, approximately a sixth of all the assists (303) the Argentine produced during his time in Catalonia.

Their longest run of joint assists came during the 2019/20 campaign, Messi and Suarez providing goals for one another on six occasions in five consecutive matches. Their most prolific game as a partnership came during a clash with Deportivo de La Coruna in 2018, Suarez laying on a hat-trick of assists for Messi in a 4-2 victory.

Messi was an ever-present during Suarez’s time at Barca between 2014 and 2020, the pair winning the lot together over a six-season period.

The Uruguayan’s debut campaign with the Catalan side was his most successful, winning the Champions League, La Liga and the Copa del Rey under Luis Enrique.

Barca would go on to win La Liga, the Copa del Rey, FIFA Club World Cup and UEFA Super Cup the following season, Messi and Suarez finishing up with a total of 13 trophies in six years as teammates.

The duo will be hopeful of winning more silverware together in the United States next season when the MLS campaign gets underway in February 2024.