Barcelona’s Clever Felix gave the Catalan giants a much-needed boost with a crucial goal in their 1-0 home win over valiant parent club Atletico Madrid in a compelling La Liga clash on Sunday. On loan at Barca after a bitter split with Diego Simeone’s side, the Portuguese netted with a fine dinked finish over goalkeeper Jan Oblak in the 28th minute. He did not hold back in his goal-scoring celebrations as he ran on to the advertising hoardings behind the goal, hugging and gesturing to the jubilant home crowd.
Atleti, playing at home for the first time since a 1-1 draw with Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey last month, pushed hard for an equalizer but found their efforts blunted by a strong Barcelona performance. The visitors were primarily relegated to the fringes of the match and needed help finding any meaningful rhythm in their build-up play.
In contrast, the Blaugrana were a potent attacking force and could stretch Atleti’s defense with quick combinations and intelligent movement off the ball.
As the first half wore on, Felix’s pace and direct running posed severe problems for Atletico, and the 24-year-old was frequently in positions to attack crosses into the box. He has scored four times in his 16 appearances for the Catalan giants this season and outperformed his expected goals tally by an impressive margin, according to Transfermarkt.
With a goal and two assists in his last three matches, the youngster has made a positive impression on manager Graham Potter’s team and appears to be on track for a triumphant return from his loan spell at the Nou Camp. He could play a key role as Barcelona try to regain the form that saw them dominate the league’s top four for most of the campaign before dipping slightly.
Despite showing bursts of promise in his debut season at Atletico, Felix never settled and fell out of favor with Simeone before being shipped out on loan to Chelsea in the second half of the campaign. He arrived at the Wanda Metropolitano with a massive price tag of 126 million euros ($137 million) but struggled to live up to that expectation in Atleti’s demanding environment. It remains to be seen if Barcelona, who would love to sign the forward permanently, can unlock his full potential.
