Barcelona ahead João Félix informed ESPN he is “not the unhealthy man” and that Atlético Madrid followers do not know the complete story after being jeered on his return to the Metropolitano on Sunday.
Félix, who is barely on mortgage at Barça and should return to Atlético in the summertime, scored the opening objective in opposition to his dad or mum membership because the Catalan aspect recorded a 3-0 win to climb to second in LaLiga.
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Along with his each contact being whistled all through the sport, Atlético supporters additionally dirtied the plaque devoted to Félix exterior the stadium and burned a shirt along with his title printed on the again.
“The followers right here watching the sport do not know what occurs internally,” the Portugal ahead informed ESPN after the match. “My [Atlético] teammates do know and, as you possibly can see, I take to each other with all of them.
“I ended to speak with Samuel Lino and [Thomas] Lemar, whereas everybody got here to hug me, discuss to me and ask me how my household are. I’ve nothing in opposition to them and so they don’t have anything in opposition to me.
“On the finish of the day, I’m not the unhealthy man right here, however I perceive the supporters right here completely as a result of they do not know all the things.”
Félix, 24, joined Atletico for a membership report €120 million ($130.8m) from Benfica in 2019 however by no means absolutely settled within the Spanish capital.
He spent the second half of final season on mortgage at Premier League aspect Chelsea earlier than becoming a member of Barça final summer season on a season-long mortgage deal.
Talking to ESPN earlier than the December assembly between Barça and Atlético, when Félix scored the one objective of the sport, he stated his former teammates “could be mendacity” in the event that they stated they didn’t need to play extra attacking soccer.
It was the most recent in a sequence of feedback made about Atlético’s taking part in type which haven’t sat properly with supporters, whereas he has been criticised for being inconsistent throughout his 4 seasons with the Rojiblancos, together with by Antoine Griezmann.
Due to this fact, a return to Atlético, the place he has a contract till 2029, seems unlikely, with sources telling ESPN he isn’t a part of coach Diego Simeone’s plans.
Félix’s objective on Sunday set Barça on the trail to a formidable win in opposition to Atlético as they prolonged their unbeaten run to 10 video games in all competitions since coach Xavi Hernández introduced he’ll step down in the summertime.
“I all the time get pleasure from these video games in opposition to large groups, video games when the followers provoke you slightly extra,” Félix added. “It was evening, leaving one in all most tough grounds in world soccer with three factors.
“We all know how they’re once they play at house, however we matched them for need and after that the standard stood out. We did very properly from the primary minute till the final, each single participant, and protecting this up we will obtain good issues.
“We now have the Champions League and LaLiga to combat for and we’re going to combat till the tip. We now have obtained ourselves in [the race], we’re second within the desk now and little by little we are going to attempt to reduce the [eight point] hole to Actual Madrid.”
The win on the Metropolitano capped a formidable week for Barça, who knocked Napoli out of the Champions League to arrange a quarterfinal in opposition to Paris Saint-Germain earlier than ending Atlético’s 25-game unbeaten streak at house within the league.
Striker Robert Lewandowski, who scored Barça’s second objective on Sunday and arrange Félix and Fermín López for the opposite two, stated the workforce’s improved kind comes on the again of coaching floor tweaks.
“We now have modified how we practice slightly in latest weeks,” Lewandowski informed DAZN. “We’re coaching with slightly extra depth now.
“I really feel actually good and I feel my teammates do, too. This might properly have been one in all my greatest video games for the membership, however extra importantly we performed properly [as a team] and after the worldwide break we have now to maintain taking steps ahead.”