'We can score any minute' - Debut star Felix signals Al Nassr intent | OneFootball

As statement debuts go, this was pretty had to beat.

In fact, it had happened only twice before in the Roshn Saudi League in recent memory.

So, where Roberto Firmino and Malcom had gone before, Joao Felix trod the same path. On Matchweek 1 of this highly anticipated campaign, the Portugal international matched a pair of Brazilian trailblazers.

A star signing at Al Nassr this summer, on Friday Felix announced his arrival in the best way possible: he struck a hat-trick at Al Taawoun, paving the way for Al Nassr to begin the 2025-26 RSL with an emphatic 5-0 victory and a concrete signal of their intent.

“Yeah, a good start,” Felix offered after the most brilliant of bows, soon clutching both the match ball and the Man of the Match award.

“For me personally and, most important, for the team. We knew in this [stadium] is not easy to play against this team; they are strong, they defend well.

“But we did a great job, and the second half was perfect. Happy for the win [and] for the clean sheet.”

True enough, given the club’s enhanced attack this season, if Al Nassr keep tight at the back – another summer recruit, Inigo Martinez, will be key to that – then they have every chance to thrive.

Alongside Felix, there’s of course evergreen captain Cristiano Ronaldo, two-time African Player of the Year Sadio Mane, and Kingsley Coman, the hugely decorated Frenchman recruited last month following a trophy-laden decade at Bayern Munich.

So, for Felix, the math is simple: clean sheets can, in turn, equal three points. It’s an ominous thought for Al Nassr’s title rivals.

“That is very important for us, because if you don't concede, we are always closer to win,” Felix said. “Because we have great talent in the front that can score goals at any minute. So, if we defend well, we can win almost every game.”

If his first appearance in the RSL is anything to go by, Felix will prove pivotal to that. Like Firmino and Malcom before him, he has laid a marker for what could ultimately represent a season of success for last term’s third-placed side.

“I just do my job here, [and] in national team,” Felix said. “Wherever I am, I try to do my best. I try to help my teammates to help the club that I'm representing.

“And I'm working on myself, working for the team. Because, if the team goes well, I go well also.”