Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez has urged Joao Felix to use criticism from his old Atletico Madrid teammates to inspire him when the teams meet in La Liga on Sunday.
During his four-year loan at Barcelona from Atletico Madrid, the Portuguese attacker failed to impress coach Diego Simeone.
This week, Atletico Madrid playmaker Antoine Griezmann suggested Felix lacked “consistency” or “got tired” of finding it, while midfielder Saul Niguez stated Felix had a lot to work on.
Simeone stated on Saturday that he did not want to speak about the forward because he was not at the club, despite the fact that he was still an Atletico player.
“(The criticism) should be extra motivation against Atletico,” Xavi told reporters on Saturday.
“I see he is motivated and happy, he is being consistent, I am happy with his performance and how he has adapted to the group.”
Barcelona leased Atletico Madrid’s record 126 million euro ($137 million) signing in the summer, and after an excellent start, he began to suffer.
Felix scored his first goal in 13 games against Porto on Tuesday, as Barcelona qualified for the Champions League last 16.
The win helped to calm the negative whispers around the club following a spate of poor performances, and Xavi feels they can build on it against Atletico.
“We have to find our game, the second half against Porto was very good … we have to be more consistent,” stated the head coach.
“We can’t say we’re having our best season, but we have had some very good minutes.”
“We have to improve our performances and the consequence will be good results.”
Xavi stated that custodian Marc-Andre ter Stegen is still out due to back strain and will not play this weekend.
Champions Barcelona are fourth after a 0-0 draw at Rayo Vallecano last weekend, while Atletico Madrid are third, level on 31 points with the Catalans.
Simeone stated that his squad was still at a disadvantage against the traditional big two, Barcelona and Real Madrid, but that they were always seeking to equalise the playing field.
“In principle Barcelona and Madrid start with more chance of winning, but in recent times we’ve cut the gap,” remarked the head coach.
“This is about deeds and not words, and we will keep working to keep cutting into it.”