The first time Luis Suárez went to the Camp Nou he sneaked in through an open door and took a picture of the empty stadium while his girlfriend, Sofia, nervously urged him to hurry up. Then they dashed off before anyone caught them. The last time Luis Suárez was at the Camp Nou, six days ago, there were pictures taken too but this time was different. There were 98,000 people there, no hurry and they were feted not furtive, surrounded by photographers and joined by their children Delfina and Benjamín. They were joined too by the Copa del Rey, the second trophy of Suárez’s first season at FC Barcelona.

On Saturday night, he will seek his third against Juventus in Berlin, as many major trophies in nine months as in the rest of his nine-year European career combined. Suárez has won the Uruguayan league, the Dutch Cup, the English League Cup and the Eredivisie – a title Ajax clinched five months after he had departed for Liverpool. Player of the Year in Holland and England, Copa América champion and Player of the Tournament in 2011, much has happened since he first crossed the Atlantic in December 2003, but not really club success. It has taken him a long time for him to get where he wanted to be.

Suárez was 16 and still two years from his Nacional debut when he first visited Barcelona and left vowing to return. He is 28 now. Sofia’s family emigrated to Catalonia that October, setting up home in Castelldefels on the coast just outside the city and, heartbroken, Suárez determined to play in Europe to be near her. Twelve years later, via Groningen, Amsterdam and Liverpool, they too live in Castelldefels, in a rented house by the beach. And Suárez, desperate for success, fearing that time was slipping away, has reached his first Champions League final. “This is incredible,” he says. “Having come to this stadium since I was very young, it’s a dream.”

On the face of things, it might have appeared set to be a nightmare. As the semi-finals ended, familiar men awaited. Not the Liverpool team-mates Suárez was convinced he would meet at some stage, but two men who have arguably marked his career more than any others.

As it turns out, a season that did not start until late October because of the three-month ban for biting Giorgio Chiellini at the World Cup will not now end with them meeting again, because the Italian has suffered a calf strain. Patrice Evra will be there, though. Chiellini forgave Suárez quickly, even criticising the ban, while Evra insisted that he had no problem shaking Suárez’s hand but that he would ensure he “feels me on the pitch”.

Suárez himself has said nothing, choosing not to give interviews before the final. This week Javier Mascherano spoke for him. “For Luis, that’s the past,” the Argentinian said. “He is old enough that you do not need to say anything to him about it. He is responsible for his behaviour, and this game is not special for him because of the players he has in front of him but because it is a final, his first.”

It is not just a first final; before this season, he had played only 10 games in this competition – including qualifying rounds – and none in the knockout phase.

No one anticipated this season ending like this, with a double won and a European Cup final to come, nor with Suárez playing such a significant role, even at €81m. The ban conditioned his debut season. Unable to train with his team-mates until the court of arbitration for sport modified the sanction, he worked alone in two city gyms and ran along the seafront and through the hills. He did not make his debut until 25 October and, although he provided an early assist for Neymar, Barcelona were defeated in the clásico against Real Madrid.

Suárez had started on the right and his role was ill-defined. It took him six games to score, against Apoel in the Champions League, and seven league games before he got off the mark. In late autumn he finished matches exhausted and frustrated, his effort appreciated but not always effective, nor reciprocated. And although he was providing assists, the goals were missing. With Lionel Messi going inside and Suárez seeking space out of his way, the pieces hadn’t fallen into place. By the turn of the year, Suárez had scored just three times.

Since then, he has scored 21. He scored the winner against Real Madrid, a goal that set up the title. He scored twice in Manchester against City and twice in Paris against PSG, both of them superb goals preceded by brilliant nutmegs. He provided two assists for Neymar in Munich, and laid on another in last week’s Copa del Rey final. His statistics going into the final read: 42 games, 24 goals, 21 assistst is more than that, too. Suárez provides the aggression and work-rate that was not always there before, his attitude and movement contagious, leading the pressure to get the ball back quickly and creating space for others. He has never been a static striker; now less than ever before. Among the many words that describe him, “momentum” is among the most important. There’s a touch of Samuel Eto’o about him, the forward line now closer to Henry-Messi-Eto’o than any of those that followed.

For a footballer who may be among the best five in the world, Suárez plays like a footballer who considers himself among the worst five in the world. “We may not be the best technically but we know that for balls no one can beat us,” he says of the Uruguayan footballing culture. It is different from the Barcelona model but necessary too, even if he has been moved to apologise for his touch in training sessions. Johan Cruyff once claimed that he signed Hristo Stoichkov for his “bad milk”, that touch of nastiness and competitiveness his team lacked, and Suárez is similar. “His character is useful for a team like us, which is colder,” Luis Enrique said.

Suárez embodies the shift in style that had Pep Guardiola describing Barcelona as the “best counterattacking team in the world”. For much of the season that was seen almost as a betrayal, but not any more. Now it is seen as the nuance, the variation, that Luis Enrique claims it to be. Now, Suárez is seen as vital, a huge success, fundamental for the collective functioning.

The trio is the image of this team now. Last Saturday night, the photograph everyone wanted to capture was of Messi, Neymar and Suárez with the Copa del Rey. They had sought out the same shot after the game that clinched the league title, even with Suárez sitting it out through injury. And on Saturday, they’ll hope to complete the set. Three by three.

With Messi going back towards the right and Suárez into the middle – a decision the Uruguayan attributed to Messi – the three have found their roles interlocking perfectly, the ideal complement to each other. Off the pitch, the relationship is good too. Suárez is a team-mates’ team-mate. He, Messi and Mascherano share mate together, the bitter green tea so beloved of Argentinians and Uruguayans, Messi’s and Suárez’s kids go to the same nursery, and soon the family will move into a new home near Messi.

“Having those three up front absolutely conditions the way you play,” Xavi said this week, quickly adding: “and that’s a good thing of course.” If some doubted that before, most agree now. Xavi calls them “beasts”. Piqué describes the basic idea like this: “get them the ball.” “Suárez has a vision, touch and an instinctive way of moving that is incredible,” Messi says. “All three of us offer something different and that makes us better together.”

Together they have scored 120 goals, more than any other trio in Spanish football history, and won the double. A third may await. Suárez has taken his time and a tortuous route, but he’s here now.