Joao Felix was on the pitch for Barça for less than 150 minutes, but he succeeded in many things. After his brace against Antwerp, he explained why things are going well under Xavi – and not so well under Diego Simeone
In Barcelona, many are talking about the super talent Lamine Yamal. The teenager became Barça’s youngest ever player in the top flight on Tuesday and second only to Dortmund’s Youssoufa Moukoko. He also almost became the youngest goalscorer, but missed two top-class chances.
And so the 16-year-old is currently being pushed out of the limelight by a 23-year-old who seems to have a pretty easy time scoring goals for the Catalans: Joao Felix. After his substitution against Osasuna in the final phase, he still went empty-handed, but in his starting debut against Betis (5:0) he set the course with the technically skilled opening goal, and he was also involved in the 2:0.
Similarly against Antwerp. Once again, Joao Felix opened the scoring, set up the second goal and then scored the final 5:0. But what is different in Barcelona than in Madrid or at loan station Chelsea?
Atletico’s style of play does not suit Joao Felix
First of all, the new environment. “Whoever is in bad shape has to change,” Felix said in an interview with Mundo Deportivo. “I already did that with the move to Chelsea, and now with Barcelona.” At Atletico, he admitted, he had “not been good”. “I didn’t adapt to the ideas of the club and the coach, but I always tried to do my best.” With this, Joao Felix alludes to the predominantly defensive and destructive style of play of Simeone’s eleven – nothing for a fine mind like the Portuguese, who finds his way into the game more through technique than through fighting. At the beginning of the season, Simeone left him on the bench.
The attacker stressed that after the unsuccessful move to Chelsea – he saw a red card on his debut – he had made sacrifices for the next new start at Barcelona. “I gave up a considerable amount of my salary. But I needed a change, I needed to go to a place where I could play my football,” he said.
What happens in the summer?
Joao Felix has been a professional long enough to assess his performances, though, despite his age. Goals against a mediocre Betis or group outsiders Antwerp will not be enough for his future to lie in Barcelona in the longer term. Especially since he is only on loan, his contract with Atletico still runs until 2029 – and Barça has no option to buy. A transfer is nevertheless possible, simply because of the differences between Felix and Diego Simeone. But then Barça will once again have to dig deep into their pockets, not least because Atletico once signed Felix for 126 million euros from Benfica Lisbon.
“The most difficult thing now is to maintain the level,” Felix himself knows. Only in games such as in the royal class at FC Porto (4 October) or in the league summit against Real Madrid (29 October) will it become clear whether he can also call up his qualities against big opponents.
But right now he is living his “childhood dream”, as he said himself when he made the switch. Coach Xavi seems to know how to approach the free spirit. “Of course he gives me tactical tasks,” Felix said. “But above all I have to have fun. “