The drift of João Félix

“I want João to be a decisive player. Regular in the game,” Simeone claimed when João Félix was still sitting on the Atlético de Madrid bench. Since he arrived on loan to Barcelona this season, the Portuguese striker has not been able to shake off the reputation of being an irregular player that has stuck to his boots. Against Barbastro this Sunday in the round of 32 of the Copa del Rey, Barça suffered again against a much inferior rival. João became unhinged, and was one of the greats singled out for his passivity: desperate, nothing went as he wanted – a goal disallowed without the possibility of review as the VAR did not exist until the quarterfinals – and with gestures of anger and frustration, he gave the corner that gave his rival his first goal.

“We gave 1-2 as a gift. It gets complicated because of us, for giving away things that we cannot,” explained Xavi Hernández after the game without giving names, but with a clear protagonist in his words. His ownership – against Almería he sat on the bench after a forgettable first half, and against Las Palmas, Ferran Torres won him the fight and he only served as a catalyst – was an opportunity to regain Xavi's trust. An opportunity that he did not take advantage of with zero goals from seven shots – the most of the entire Barça team, three between the sticks -, 15 turnovers and one duel won from seven. And with no effectiveness in defense or dribbling – zero in five attempts – Xavi sat him down in the 72nd minute and went directly to the locker room. A blunt march that Fermín López attributed after the game to the “cold.” And faced with João's drift, the doubt arises about the indisputable gap that the Barça coach had drawn for him in the past.

Not everything was always darkness in João's statistics. In his first three games with Barcelona he had three goals and one assist. “I'm happy,” the Portuguese striker shared at that time. He was having his best moment against Betis (0-5) and Antwerp (0-5), but almost four months have passed since those games. Behind them, a drought: 12 consecutive games without scoring. Until Porto and Atlético arrived and he took his personal revenge, scoring the winning goal in both games. Everything indicated that at the Barça Sports City they would decide to pay their fee to Atlético. But it went from shining to dimming over time until there was no light left.

And he allowed Ferran Torres to appear. The Valencian player has seven goals – two behind Lewandowski – and three assists in 25 games this season, one more than João despite having played 173 fewer minutes. Against Las Palmas, Ferran won the battle and the title, so he only added 19 minutes while Foios' player scored the tying goal to make the comeback possible. Against Almería, Xavi put João on for Ferran in the half. The Portuguese's last goal was on December 16 against Valencia, after not playing in the Champions League second leg against Antwerp.

Criticism about his irregularity, his difficulty fitting in and the emotional and sporting ups and downs come from afar. Atlético de Madrid paid 127.2 million euros for a 19-year-old youngster from Benfica who was loaned to Chelsea. Almost six months in which he scored four goals in 20 games and failed to settle and then returned to Simeone's team and went on loan to Barcelona again. “It is clear that the Atleti people do not like certain gestures, because we have another idiosyncrasy. When you don't understand the idiosyncrasies of where you are, it's difficult to live together. Everything good that happens to João is good for us, I am happy that he plays so much. If he has to stay at Barcelona it will be an important income for the club, and if he returns he can do it better,” Simeone assured in an interview for the Chain Being.

“There were times when he did very well. But you have to be constant, and he still got tired,” commented Antoine Griezmann about the Portuguese before Atlético's match against Barcelona in early December. A directionless nomad that he tried in Lisbon, Madrid, London and Barcelona, ​​but who seems not to find himself. João Félix's free fall continues to rise.

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