Luis Suarez described his long-awaited debut for Barcelona as bittersweet after his new club were defeated 3-1 by Real Madrid at the Bernabeu; he set up the opening goal but finished on the losing side. The Uruguayan’s four-month ban for biting Giorgio Chiellini came to an end just in time for him to play and his coach, Luis Enrique, surprised many by including him from the start.

Suarez admitted he did not know he was going to start until the manager named the team two hours before kick-off. Luis Enrique, meanwhile, insisted he did not regret starting with the striker. Suarez provided the pass that led to the opening goal, scored by Neymar after three minutes, but the night ended in defeat and Suarez was withdrawn after 69 minutes.

“I’m happy to be back playing: it’s a big relief and I’m happy the time has passed,” Suarez said. “It’s a bittersweet feeling because of the result but this side has come back [from defeats] many times. Obviously, you always want to mark your debut with a victory, all the more so in games like this. But it didn’t happen.”

Suarez, who admitted Madrid had deserved the 3-1 victory , added: “It is very difficult to play here but I did all that I can and I leave here with the sensation that the team did everything. It wasn’t to be. Now we have to forget this game and think about our next opponents.

“We thought we had the game under control, we had chances to score and in games like this it is always difficult if you don’t take your chances. In the second half their speed caught us by surprise and they killed the game on the counterattack.”

Luis Enrique was asked if he regretted not reserving the ￡75m signing from Liverpool for later in the game but the Barcelona manager said the decision to start with him was the right one. “I do not regret it at all. He played well. He looked fit and was up to the pace of the game, more than I expected.

“He knows the movements of the team because he has been working on them with us for the last few weeks. He has been doing that work with us and he knows it well.

“We knew that the lack of competition might be a problem for him in the last half an hour so that is why we replaced him, but that’s all.”