Joao Felix finds vindication, and a home: Moment of the Weekend

 

There he stood, arms high up in festival - on a promoting accumulating that should have been the allegorical scaffold he had quite recently consumed. Joao Felix, on a season-long credit from Atletico Madrid, had scored for Barcelona against Atletico Madrid, an objective that would end up being the champ in a 1-0 win for the hosts at the Montjuic.

That by itself is sufficient to stir up the flares of a story, however strip back the layers and the justification Felix probably felt in the wake of watching his dink over Jan Oblak sink into the net may be unrivaled. His relationship with Atleti mentor Diego Simeone had in essence separated - the Portuguese star had to prepare alone before the season started as he pushed for a transition to Barcelona. What's more, presently, in that popular Blaugrana shirt he had longed for wearing as a youngster, Felix caused an eighteenth successive misfortune for Simeone while visiting Barcelona.

He could never have invoked a more ideal method for getting it done - the objective was unadulterated Barcelona, starting right from the goalkeeper. "Without a doubt [I prefer] this style [at Barcelona] - - me and each player," Felix had told ESPN before the match.

"In the event that you ask each player, assuming you ask the players from Atlético, as well, they would like to play additional time on the assault, without a doubt. On the off chance that they don't respond to that, they are lying. Obviously, every player needs to assault, needs to have the ball and to score objectives."

There was little danger of an assault when Barca guardian Inaki Pena got the ball in his case to begin the move. His protectors were being squeezed well, and Pena didn't have numerous choices. A foot up the pitch? Please, this is Barcelona.

Pedri, 21, perceived the need of his partner, nonetheless, dropping back. There was something else entirely to this - by dropping back Pedri hauled Jose Maria Gimenez out of guard and profound into Barcelona's half. This should have been fine, aside from Pedri got the ball with his back to objective, took a touch, contorted behind him, and spread the ball out wide to Jules Kounde embracing the touchline. Gimenez was up to speed with the pitch, and Kounde burned through no time in elapsing it to Raphina in the recreation area.

The Brazilian had sections of land of room cleared by Gimenez and passed through the center as his partners amassed up the pitch, including Felix blasting down the left. A pass to the Portuguese star appeared to be a to some degree dangerous decision, particularly as Nahuel Molina almost caught the ball. Felix notwithstanding, was first to get and with his most memorable touch, took it past Molina on the edge of the container and profound into the left channel of the case, drawing Jan Oblak out.

The Slovenian guardian had spent numerous an instructional meeting obstructing these shots from Felix and did everything right. There was just a single minuscule space where Felix might possibly lift the ball over Oblak's left shoulder and into the net from a restricted point. On the run, with his more vulnerable foot, against previous colleagues who had laid into him the entire week ("coming up short on consistency", "might have improved"), in the midst of a nine-game objective dry season in LaLiga, you would have pardoned Felix for missing.

Yet, the Portuguese star showed precisely why Atleti left behind €126 million for him such an extremely long time back - tracking down that minuscule space over Oblak's shoulder and dinking the ball into the net. A Barcelona objective on the off chance that there at any point was one, from goalkeeper to striker, with shrewd passing and a brazen completion. Justification for the Portuguese star.

"Would he celebrate against his parent club?" had ruled the pre-match features the entire week, and there was no question. Felix ran onto the hoardings in his way, climbed them and raised his arms high and wide. *This* was the Felix Atleti were intended to see, had he been given the job he wanted, had Atleti played more like Barcelona (quit worrying about that Simeone's side have scored more this season).

"It was unconstrained," Felix told Movistar after the game in regards to his festival. "Toward the day's end, you're in the intensity of the game and it was nearly [a feeling of] alleviation for all that I went through in the late spring. Simply those nearest to me, my family primarily, understand what I went through."

Simeone had been reproachful of Felix's inability to adjust to Atletico's style recently, saying "When you don't comprehend the characteristics of where you are, it is undeniably challenging to coincide together. It resembles if I have any desire to live like individuals live in Argentina, I need to live like they live in Spain."

In Barcelona in any case, Felix could have quite recently found a spot he doesn't have to adjust to. A home. There will not be any getting back to Madrid after this - and that is the reason he remained on those promoting hoardings and severed that tie.

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