Luis Núñez-Villavearán

Updated Sunday, March 17, 2024-02:06

Joao Félix

(Viseu, 1999) resolved the doubts of Barcelona and Atlético de Madrid in Montjuic after half an hour of play.

Not only did he celebrate the goal against his former team, he climbed a fence to vindicate himself before him.

It was his peak moment in the culé club, "the dream" that he had since he was a child.

His defenders claimed that, this time, he had found his place.

From the red and white club they responded that his last concern was how Joao celebrated.

Only three and a half months later, the Portuguese's situation at FC Barcelona is completely different.

Joao Félix had started out being fundamental in

Xavi

's eleven

with 10 of 11 appearances in the starting team until the exhibition in Montjuic against the red and whites and playing the full 90 minutes in three of them.

After December 3, 2023, not counting the four games that he missed due to an ankle injury,

Félix

has not played a full game again.

He has started in six of nine games, but he has only started for an hour in three of them.

The Portuguese maintains the scoring average in

Barcelona

that he has had in Spain.

Since his explosion at

Benfica

in the 2018/19 season, the year that earned him a signing for

Atlético de Madrid

for around 127 million euros, he has never scored more than 10 goals, 15 that year.

Joao

has scored a dozen two years in a row with the colchoneros (2020/21, 2021/22) and has eight goals this year with

Barça

.

The last one in the culé team's win against

Getafe

on February 24.

"I do my job and I try to do my best to help the team, I have returned from injury before," he commented after that game in which he stated that he always tries to "enjoy" on the field.

It is not an accidental statement, it was the first thing he remembered in an interview when he arrived at Barça.

He said that

Xavi

asked him to enjoy himself while at Atlético he argued that he felt "bad" because he did not adapt to the "coach's ideas."

The Portuguese after scoring against Atlético.EFE

The truth is that Joao Félix

's performance

has always been like a flare: brilliant at the beginning and losing its brilliance until it eventually faded, either because the relationship with the coach was not ideal, or because his fit in the group was not perfect either. to be the correct one or, directly, because his teammates, with more hunger and desire than the Portuguese, relegated him to the background.

Place in which he never felt comfortable as he has shown on many occasions at

Atlético de Madrid

.

Thus, the Portuguese has not been able to succeed in his three and a half years as a red and white player, nor in his six months on loan at Chelsea, where he claimed to feel "happy" and "free" because the team liked to "attack" and now he has returned to show a similar progression at Barcelona, ​​although he still has a few months to change it.

There are 10 LaLiga games left, plus at least two Champions League games.

Barça

and

the Portuguese need each other.

The club does not have a surplus budget, the better it finishes in the League and the further it advances in the top continental competition, the higher the salary limit it can obtain.

And the Portuguese is running out of opportunities to shine and clubs that want to bet on him.

Future

If at the beginning of this season, given the good work of the Blaugrana 14, various formulas were explored, including sale, to stay in the culé discipline.

His decline in performance and Barça's financial difficulties make even a second year of loan between both teams an operation no longer as simple as has been speculated despite the great relationship that his agent, Jorge

Mendes

, has with both clubs. .

From the red and white leadership they continue to appreciate the Portuguese footballer and believe that he still has a market.

They know that his fit in the locker room where there is only one leader and his name is

Diego Simeone

is complicated, but they do not consider the Portuguese's protests or actions as irreconcilable with the club and they remember what happened with

Griezmann

and his departure to Barça, documentary included, as mistakes that can be overcome.

After the ostentatious celebration of Montjuic,

Joao Félix

returns to a Metropolitan where he says a "complicated environment for everyone" awaits him, but especially for him.

"It motivates me more, I like these important and spicy matches, there is extra motivation," he commented before the match.

Morata

, one of the heavyweights of the locker room, recognizes that the reception will be very passionate.

"People have feelings and I just hope he doesn't have a good football day. I'm sure they treat him with respect, he still belongs to the club and in the future we don't know what's going to happen,"

Joao Félix

pointed out in both directions of the affair. , the sentimental and the economic.

Simeone

, for his part, has already politely removed him from his club.

"I am very respectful of the footballers of other teams, I have no opinion on any of them and this will be no exception," he expressed.

Xavi

, on the other hand, encouraged him to "show personality" and revealed that he liked "hostile environments."

Tomorrow it will be for the Menino de Oro or, if we talk about recent times, for Hojalata.