João Félix explains celebration after scoring winner for Barcelona vs Atlético Madrid | OneFootball

Barcelona forward João Félix has opened up on his decision to celebrate, after finding the net during the club’s meeting with Atlético Madrid.

Barca, and Atléti, of course, locked horns in Catalonia on Sunday night.

Locked on points in 3rd in the table, the former welcomed Diego Simeone’s troops to the Estadio Lluís Companys, for a highly-anticipated La Liga showdown.

When all was said and done, it was the Blaugrana who emerged on the right side of the result, owing to a solitary first-half goal.

And, as if written in the stars, it was the aforementioned João Félix who bagged the winner, against his parent club.

After being singled out for criticism by ex-teammates Antoine Griezmann and Jan Oblak, frontman Félix took his place front and centre in the headlines in the build-up to the clash.

In turn, widespread chatter centered on whether or not the Portuguese international would opt to celebrate, in the case of notching against his long-time club.

In the end, Félix did precisely that, standing on the pitch-side advertisement boards with his arms spread wide.

Speaking post-match, the 24-year-old was therefore inevitably drawn on precisely why he opted against hiding his joy, out of respect for Atlético.

He went on to reveal that the celebration was not pre-planned, but simply a release of emotion on the back of a difficult summer:

“The celebration was spontaneous,” Félix explained to Victor Navarro of Cope. “It was a release of what I had been through last summer. It was for my family.”

Conor Laird | GSFN