David Luiz’s mother defends son on Instagram after humiliation by Luis Suárez

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/apr/16/david-luiz-mother-instagram-luis-suarez

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David Luiz’s mother has responded to online criticism of her son following his performance in Paris Saint-Germain’s 3-1 Champions League defeat to Barcelona.

The Brazil international was twice humiliated by Luis Suárez in the quarter-final first leg, with Suárez nutmegging him on the way to scoring two brilliant goals at the Parc des Princes.

Reacting to the wave of criticism, David Luiz’s mother, Regina Célia, used her Instagram account to issue a public show of support, telling followers: “I have a son and I always will! His head held high, with a ball at his feet. God knows everything! Jesus is fighting for us until this day and yet we still have people who judge! Who are we to judge you! I will always love you after the good games, and even more after those that don’t go well!”

Speaking after the game, Suárez said he had no option but to nutmeg the defender. “Forwards are always hunting for goals. The ‘nutmeg’ on David Luiz was the last option open to me for the third goal and thankfully it went in and helped give the team more security.”

PSG gave themselves a glimmer of hope before next week’s return game at the Camp Nou when a Gregory van der Wiel shot ricocheted into the net off the Barcelona defender Jérémy Mathieu eight minutes from time. However, Laurent Blanc’s team face a huge task to make the last four as, based on historic results in first legs of two-legged European ties, Barcelona’s chance of advancing is 98.5%.

Related: Luis Suárez leaves Edinson Cavani in shade in Champions League show | Dominic Fifield

Suárez, though, said the tie was far from over, telling Canal+: “We weren’t that superior, we were smart. We had to show intensity from the off so as to take the game by the scruff of the neck. We ran our hearts out all match. You never know what’s going to happen next. They’ve got a lot of ability and will welcome players back for the return leg. We’ve got a nice lead, but it’s not over yet.”

Blanc refused to make the absence of Marco Verratti, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Thiago Motta, through a combination of suspensions and injury, an excuse, saying: “I do not want to talk about what could have happened with other players on the pitch. We did not lose because we were missing players, but because of little collective mistakes.”

Asked how his team could bounce back and overturn the two-goal deficit, he said: “If you have ideas, I’m taking them.”