Joao Felix’s exquisite dinked finish gave Barcelona a crucial 1-0 win over Atletico Madrid in the La Liga title battle on Sunday.
The Portuguese forward, on loan from Atletico Madrid, made no secret of his desire to leave the Spanish city this summer, and he made his original club pay at the Olympic Stadium.
Some Atletico players insulted Felix before of the game, and Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez told him to take their words as motivation, which he did.
With the goal, Barcelona reclaimed third place from Atletico, trailing leaders Real Madrid and second-place Girona by four points.
“He made the difference for the team again, he gave everything, working hard, stealing the ball back, I am very happy for him,” Xavi was quoted as saying by reporters.
“I told him to be calm, this extra motivation sometimes speeds you up and you cross the line.”
Xavi praised his team’s overall performance.
“The team had personality, and we played very well today — perhaps our best game of the season, a complete game, I’d say.”
“It’s a very positive sign of what we can and should do in every game – this is what Barca should be.”
Atletico have not won away against the champions in La Liga since 2006, a record that has now lasted 18 games, but they came into this game believing that now was the time to break that skid.
Barcelona has struggled for form and confidence since falling to Real Madrid in the Clasico at the end of October.
Barcelona began brightly, creating chances, and Felix broke the deadlock after 28 minutes, riding Nahuel Molina’s charge and then dinking the ball over Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak.
Felix raised his arms in triumph as he stood on the advertising hoardings in front of the enraged visiting fans, while Rojiblancos coach Diego Simeone appeared displeased as he flashed up on the big screens.
The 24-year-old forward, who cost the club a club record 126 million euros ($137 million) in 2019, never settled in the city and did not gel with Simeone’s management or playing style.
“It was spontaneous… in the heat of the game, and it felt like a relief, for everything I lived through this summer,” Felix said of his celebration.
“Every week I’m talked about, whether for good or bad, I do my job, without looking at what they say or think.”
Payback
Perhaps not coincidentally, Axel Witsel was arrested shortly after for chopping Felix to the ground.
Felix came close to a second goal with a prodded effort from Ilkay Gundogan’s cut-back, but Oblak denied him this time.
As Barcelona dominated the game, Gundogan shone in midfield alongside fit-again combo Pedri and Frenkie de Jong.
Raphinha clipped the post early in the second half to get Barcelona fans up and moving.
Despite its high-calibre opponents, the attendance dropped short of 35,000 and was the club’s lowest this season, possibly due to the cooler winter evenings and the late kick-off.
Atletico improved slightly in the second half, but not significantly enough to force an equaliser.
Talisman Antoine Griezmann tried hard but was unable to score against his former club; he has not scored in 14 games against Barcelona for the Rojiblancos.
Memphis Depay, another ex-Barcelona player, came closest for Atletico with a free-kick that was turned over by Inaki Pena, who was filling in for the injured Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
“They started better, had more personality with the ball,” Simeone confessed.
“The team improved and had the chances to equalise.”
Robert Lewandowski should have sealed Barcelona’s victory, but he fired wide late on – he has only three goals in his previous ten games for the club in all competitions.
Atletico Madrid is fourth, three points behind Barcelona, and seven points behind the top two.
“The idea was to go for the game, and I don’t know what happened,” Atletico goalie Oblak told Movistar.
“Nobody was good in the first half, nobody wanted the ball, nobody wanted to play.”
On Sunday, Almeria were beaten to a 0-0 draw at home by 10-man Real Betis, who finished seventh.
Sevilla (15th) drew 1-1 with Villarreal and have not won in 10 matches in La Liga and the Champions League under new coach Diego Alonso.