Felix fires double as Atleti pip Juve at Friends Arena
STOCKHOLM: Record signing Joao Felix scored two first-half goals for Atletico Madrid as they secured a 2-1 win over Juventus in the International Champions Cup at the Friends Arena on Saturday.
Although the vast majority of fans in the crowd seemed to be more interested in seeing his fellow Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo, Felix opened the scoring by squeezing a first-time finish through two defenders and into the back of the net midway through the first half.
Sami Khedira equalised for the Italian champions in the 29th minute but Felix, who joined Atletico from Benfica for a reported €126 million in July, netted his second four minutes later.
The Spanish side open their La Liga campaign at home to Getafe next Sunday, while Juventus travel to Parma on Aug 24 to begin their Serie A season.
Juventus forward Paulo Dybala, who has been at the centre of transfer speculation, played for the last half hour but coach Maurizio Sarri would not be drawn on whether the Argentine would be staying at the club.
In Ann Arbor, Luis Suarez scored twice, Antoine Griezmann netted his first goal for Barcelona and the Lionel Messi-less Spanish side ripped Napoli 4-0 on Saturday in their final La Liga season tune-up.
Messi did not make the US trip due to a calf injury but no Messi proved no problem for Barcelona.
A crowd of 60,043 at 110,000-seat Michigan Stadium was treated to an exquisite passing display by Barcelona, who netted four goals in 15 minutes to seal Napoli’s fate.
Suarez opened the scoring in the 48th minute, the Uruguayan forward blasting in a rebound after a Griezmann shot had been denied.
Griezmann opened his Barcelona goal account in the 56th minute after an impressive run by defender Jordi Alba. The Spaniard charged deep into the box, then flicked a pass to his right and Griezmann netted a left-footed tap-in to lift Barcelona ahead 2-0.
Suarez found the net again with a beauty in the 58th minute, the South American firing a right-footed blast from the top of the box and tucking the ball just inside the right goalpost.
Ousmane Dembele completed the scoring in the 63rd minute, his rightfooted blast for the right side tucking just inside the far post.