João Felix has continued his brilliant start to life at Barcelona with a brace in the Catalan giants’ opening fixture of the 2023/24 UEFA Champions League.
The five-time UEFA Champions League winners signed the Portuguese forward on loan from Atlético de Madrid, who he has not played for since January 2023. Felix did all he could to join the club which he claims is the club of his dreams and he has since shown that he is focused on making it at the club.
Having scored in his second appearance for the club over the weekend when Barcelona thrashed Real Betis 5-0 in LaLiga, he added two more in the Champions League as Barcelona thrashed the 2022/23 Belgian Jupiler Pro League champions Royal Antwerp by the same scoreline.
Felix opened the scoring with a beautiful strike after receiving a brilliant pass from former Manchester City captain Ilkay Gundogan. Robert Lewandowski bagged his 100th Champions League goal to join Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo as the only men to hit that mark while Raphinha forced an own goal to make it 3-0 at halftime.
Firecracker midfielder Gavi scored the fourth and Felix, just as he started, scored the fifth following a brilliant cross from Raphinha. It was Barcelona’s biggest win since their 6-1 victory over Paris Saint-Germain a few years ago.
Felix was taken off shortly after his goal but his performance was enough to earn him a second straight player of the match award.
The 23-year-old looks like a new player under Xavi Hernandez’s tutelage at Barcelona. His sulking self from his time under Diego Simeone at Atlético is gone and his underwhelming loan stint at Chelsea is now behind him.
He looks to be the missing piece in Xavi’s plan and it remains to be seen what the club can become with him in it this season.
“We produced a great match, all of us. I’m delighted to win. “I’m very happy, that’s because I’m enjoying myself,” he said after the game.
“My teammates are helping me a lot, I’m pleased to be playing next to Lewandowski. I watched him a lot before I moved here and I said that I’d play close to him and that I knew his movements.”
“I’m here to help the job that we are all involved in – making the fans happy and satisfied. It’s a happy coincidence that João Cancelo has arrived here at the same time and people are talking about ‘the Joãos.’”
In contrast, Felix’s parent club Atlético struggled against Lazio in their Champions League opener and almost ended up with all three points until Lazio showstopper Ivan Provedel scored a brilliant header to seal an important point for the Italian side.
