Felix returns from injury with a goal
barcelona — Substitute Joao Felix returned from injury and scored his first goal in more than two months to help Atletico Madrid get back in the fight for a Champions League berth.
Atletico’s 3-1 comeback win over Villarreal lifted the team into third place in the Spanish league. The top four play in Europe’s top club competition next season. Atletico are level on points with fourth-place Sevilla, who leapfrogged Getafe by dealing the season’s surprise team a stinging 3-0 home defeat.
Felix had missed four matches while recovering from a right-leg muscle injury. He went on in the 57th with Atletico leading 2-1. Felix
We saw it yesterday in practice. He showed signs of being stronger, more confident, and more incisive. We are happy he is back
Diego Simeone
Coach of Atletico
put the result beyond doubt with a powerful left-footed strike in the 74th, after Atletico’s pressure recovered the ball near the area. The positive performance by Felix comes with Atletico flying high after they beat Liverpool 1-0 in their opening leg in the Champions League’s round of 16 on Tuesday.
The goal was Felix’s fifth of the season and his first since scoring in a 2-0 win over Lokomotiv in the Champions League in December.
“Felix had a good return,” said Atletico manager Diego Simeone, who watched the match from a stadium box at the Wanda Metropolitano as he served a one-game suspension for accumulation of yellow cards for protesting.
“We saw it yesterday in practice. He showed signs of being stronger, more confident, and more incisive. We are happy he is back, we need all the competition on the squad we can get.” —