Joao Felix haunts his parents: Atletico Madrid's problem child sinks them in defeat to Barcelona
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oao Felix of FC Barcelona celebrates after scoring the 1-0 during the La Liga EA Sports match between FC Barcelona and Atletico de Madrid played at Lluis Companys Stadium || Image credit: Imago

Joao Felix haunts his parents: Atletico Madrid's problem child sinks them in defeat to Barcelona

Faruq Ibrahim 23:18 - 03.12.2023

Portugal international Joao Felix showed Atletico Madrid what they were missing as he inspired Barcelona to a 1-0 victory over Pablo Simeone's side.

Barcelona continued their impressive record against Diego Simeone's Atletico Madrid, as they beat them 1-0 to keep pace with Real Madrid and Girona.

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The Blaugrana hosted their Madrid-based rivals at Estadio Luis Companys for El Super Duelo as they looked to reduce the seven-point deficit on league leaders Los Blancos.

Barcelona dominated for swathes of the regulation period but were mostly wasteful. However, Joao Felix's strike in the 28th minute was enough to secure maximum points.

How it happened 

Barcelona carried on their form from the second-half performance against Porto into this match, as they had Atleti on the backfoot early on.

The hosts had the chance to score multiple goals on the opening exchanges, with Raphinha and Lewandowski both getting the ball in dangerous positions, but neither had the quality or luck to beat Jan Oblak.

Barcelona continued to carve out spaces in the Atleti backline but could not land a lethal blow until the 28th minute when Raphinha dribbled through the central areas of the pitch to find Felix. 

Nahuel Molina attempted to intercept the pass, but the Portuguese was quicker. He collected the ball into this path before jinking the ball over Oblak.

Simeone’s side were much improved in the second-half, but the Blaugrana still had more of the ball and created better chances, but were without their shooting boots.

Atleti had a flurry of attacks in the final 10-15 minutes of the game, but Inaki Pena was on hand to ensure Felix's goal determined the tie.

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