Luis Suarez defended Barcelona players and said they were the first who wanted to reach an agreement over a pay cut.

Barcelona players agreed to a 70 per cent pay cut earlier this week amid the coronavirus pandemic.

In a statement confirming the move on Monday, Barcelona star Lionel Messi took aim at senior figures at the club for putting players under pressure over something they always knew they would do.

        View this post on Instagram                       A post shared by Leo Messi (@leomessi) on Mar 30, 2020 at 4:11am PDT

Suarez said players were hurt by reports they were unwilling to accept a salary reduction.

"A lot of hurtful things have been said about the squad's salary cuts," the forward told Sport 890 on Thursday.

"People have said that the players didn't want to accept them, then it was said that players from other areas of the club had reached an agreement, when the reality is that we were waiting to try and find the best solution for the club."

Suarez added: "It hurts when people say things like that because we were always the first people that wanted to reach an agreement, as we know what the club's situation is.

"No player in the squad refused a wage cut. A mutual agreement was reached between the players and the club. The captains spoke to the president and nobody refused it."

More than 52,900 people have died from coronavirus worldwide, with the death toll exceeding 10,300 in Spain.