Real Betis 1-3 Atletico Madrid
João Félix is unquestionably in one of his best periods of form since joining Atletico Madrid, after scoring twice in Los Rojiblancos’ impressive victory at fellow top four rivals Real Betis on Sunday evening.
Félix has four goals and two assists from his last six matches, including a particularly eye-catching display against Manchester United in the Champions League. Now, after bagging a brace in the win at Betis, the former Benfica man is earning strong praise from the local media in the Spanish capital.
“Atletico’s biggest rivals, Real Madrid and Barça, will put all their meat on the grill to win over their long-awaited world star: Mbappé and Haaland - this summer,” wrote Marca. “Atlético’s reality is quite different, basically because they already have him at home. And at this level, he eats at the table of the French and Norwegian.”
Other publications joined in, with Félix described as a “leader” by El Mundo Deportivo and his appearance in Andalusia remarked as “splendid” by AS. “They asked him to be decisive, and he was decisive,” added El Desmarque.
For his part, Félix spoke of his upturn in form, telling reporters: “I used to do things well too, but there are times when goals don’t come. Now they are showing up, things are going well for me and it has to stay that way.”
The victory for Atletico was significant, with Diego Simeone’s team leapfrogging Betis into 4th place and a Champions League place. Simeone was asked about Félix’s recent improvement and gave a somewhat curious response
“He gets angry with me and he will continue to be angry with me, but one day he will thank me,” Simeone said. “Everyone needs time and what he’s doing is what we demand of him. He brings goals, talent, one-on-one, vision, speed, intelligence and defensive work. All this is very good for him.”
By Sean Gillen
