🇪🇸 João Félix gets last laugh as Barcelona hold on to beat Atleti | OneFootball

Barcelona picked up three vital points against Atlético de Madrid after a slim 1-0 victory.

Scorer: Félix 28′

The narrative was fairly predictable on Sunday as the man in focus returned to haunt his parent club.

Barcelona’s confidence was evident right from kick-off, and Raphinha missed a sitter about one minute into the game before efforts from Robert Lewandowski fell short.

But João Félix, who is currently on loan at Barcelona from Atleti, had a point to prove and made it when his best opportunity arrived.

The 24-year-old beat Nahuel Molina to the ball in the box and chipped goalkeeper Jan Oblak from a tight angle. He then wasted no time to celebrate his first goal against Los Rojiblancos.

Unfortunately for Diego Simeone, his usual deadly duo of Antoine Griezmann and Alvaro Morata never had a sniff of the ball.

The visitors looked bleak and truly puzzled, with none of their five substitutes suggesting they could capitalise on the hosts’ inability to score a second.

Drama ensued in the final 10 minutes, and the script almost flipped. Ex-Barcelona star Memphis Depay saw his free-kick saved by the fingertips of Iñaki Peña before the goalkeeper also denied Angel Correa.

Félix’s revenge goal, meanwhile, proved to be vital from both an individual and team perspective.

Barcelona leapfrogged their opponents and sit third, only four points off the joint-leaders Real Madrid and Girona.

The one saving grace for Atleti is that they have a game in hand as the top four race in LaLiga continues to be tight.