Barcelona’s Joao Felix scored a pivotal goal in the first half to secure a hard-fought 1-0 home win against his resilient parent team Atletico Madrid in a gripping LaLiga showdown on Sunday.
The Portuguese talent, on loan at Barca, found the back of the net with a stellar finish over goalkeeper Jan Oblak from a swift counter-attack in the 28th minute, and the hosts managed to hold off Diego Simeone’s side.
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“It hurts. We threw away the first half,” lamented Oblak after the match. “If we had performed better in the first half, we could have had a chance. Our performance was subpar and we paid the price for it.
“I don’t understand why. The plan was to go and play, and I don’t know what happened. None of us played well in the first half, none of us wanted the ball.”
Barcelona climbed above Atletico into third place with 34 points, trailing leaders Real Madrid and Girona by four points. Atletico now sits fourth with 31 points and a game in hand.
Félix received a standing ovation when he was substituted by Ferran Torres in the 77th minute at the Olympic Lluis Companys Stadium.
The Portugal forward secured the victory by flicking the ball over Oblak from a tight angle after a pass by Raphinha.
Barcelona’s goalkeeper Iñaki Peña, standing in for the injured Marc-André ter Stegen, made several impressive saves — including a stellar one on a Memphis Depay free kick — towards the end, securing Barcelona’s third win in four league matches.
Barcelona had previously drawn 1-1 with Rayo Vallecano before defeating Porto 2-1 to secure their return to the knockout stage of the Champions League for the first time after two consecutive group-stage eliminations.
Félix, a former Benfica player, also found the net against Porto on Tuesday.
“I couldn’t believe it when the fans chanted my name,” Félix expressed after the match. “I know how great this club is, and to have your name chanted is not something that happens to many. I’m delighted.”
Simeone’s Atletico had been on a streak of four consecutive wins in all competitions, with two losses — including one at Las Palmas — and eight wins in their last 10 league matches.
Information from The Associated Press and Reuters was used in this story.
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