João Felix He was once again the leader of Atleti against Lokomotiv. The young footballer has joined the team behind his back and is showing his best version, the one that reminds him of what he did in the preseason of the previous summer. The Portuguese arrived at the match against the Russian club with devastating numbers: scoring two goals at Salzburg and doing the same against Osasuna in El Sadar. Under that baggage of four goals in five days, João tried to the end without obtaining the final prize of victory.
The rojiblanco attacker has five goals in nine games and is four from matching his personal best in the previous campaign. The difference between this João and the one who landed in Spain in 2019 is abysmal. And it is that, he has undergone a sweet transition in his role on the field. This new version shows the Portuguese with total freedom of movement and with more stable defense automatisms. Currently, he is registering a 90% success rate in his passes and averages three to five shots on goal. It is also seen that he comes into contact with colleagues of the stature of Suárez, Koke and Correa.
Another key to understanding his performance improvement lies in Simeone's speech. The Argentine coach pays more attention to him in his answers: “Last year we commented on some words, such as transition, that were surprising and, with time and believing it, it is happening in him.” As the coach himself indicates, during 2019-20 he used to explain that the Portuguese had to adapt to the competition and the team. Some phrases that he no longer repeats. “He had a regularity during the 90 minutes and he fed us more opportunities in attack. The team generated chances, unchecked, arrivals from the second row and it was a shame to receive that goal,” he said against Salzburg.
Maximum confidence
João He also feels like a leader and that shows a lot in his statements: “On a personal level, very happy with the goals and also collectively, we played a great game. It was a disputed first half, the second we started very well, with two clubs, we were able to scoring two goals there that didn't come in, we went ahead and got the win. ” It is true that during the previous campaign he was questioned in certain games and was even substituted in several games. The tessitura is quite another. Ahead, João.
Design: Eduardo Cornago