João Felix is exploding in a Barcelona uniform.
Felix scored his Barcelona debut against Real Betis in the fifth round of the Spanish Primera Liga and followed it up with a multi-goal outburst against Royal Antwerp in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League (UCL) Group H tie. Three goals in two games. Two 5-0 wins in a row.
The praise for Felix is also exploding. Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez said, “With Felix, we have the most complete team since he took over as Barcelona coach.”
It’s a different atmosphere at Atletico Madrid (ATM). Felix’s home team is ATM. He moved from Benfica to ATM in 2019 for a whopping €126 million (N179.5 billion). He was hailed as the next Cristiano Ronaldo, and expectations were high.
But at ATM, he had to keep his head down. He didn’t make any impact. And he tried to get out of ATM. He was loaned to Chelsea last season, returned to ATM this season, but looked outside again, and was loaned to Barcelona.
Everyone knows why he was struggling at ATM. The local media has been reporting on it for a while now. A feud with ATM coach Diego Simeone. “They have crossed the river of no return,” as the local media put it.
Felix, who is on a good run at Barcelona, has addressed Simeone directly. Speaking to Spain’s Mundo Deportivo, he said: “Football is like that, when it’s not good for someone, you have to make a change. I went on loan to Chelsea last season, and now I’m at Barcelona. It didn’t work out at the ATM,” he said.
“I didn’t adapt to Simeone’s ideas at all,” he continued, making a significant confession.
But that doesn’t mean he didn’t try his best. “Even in ATM, I always tried to do the best I could,” Felix said. I had a good time at the ATM.”
Felix turned down an offer from Saudi Arabia and took a significant pay cut to come to Barcelona, which he 바카라 describes as his dream team, the team he’s wanted to play for since he was a kid.
“It’s true that I gave up a big part of my salary, but I needed a change. I needed to come to a place where I could play my style of soccer. I always thought Barcelona was the ideal place for me. Things are going well here. It’s going better than I thought it would,” he emphasized.
“I’m trying to find the joy in playing soccer again,” he added.