The UEFA Champions League group stage started this week, as FC Barcelona opened their campaign with a match against Royal Antwerp.
The match went exceedingly well for Barcelona, as the Catalans scored five goals against the Belgians and took all three points as they look to overturn their woes in the Champions League.
The match saw several players make their Champions League debut for Barcelona. Ilkay Gundogan, Joao Cancelo, and Lamine Yamal all made their first appearances for Barcelona in the premier European competition.
Felix contesting for the UEFA award
However, it was Joao Felix, who also made his Champions League debut in a Barcelona shirt, and stole the spotlight on the night. The Portuguese forward scored two goals, the first and the last of the match, and also gave an assist for Raphinha to put in a spectacular game in front of the Barcelona home crowd.
With this amazing performance, UEFA has nominated him as one of the contestants for the Player of the Week Award. The public does the voting for this award, and anyone can vote for their preferred player by going to the UEFA official website.
Other contestants
Three other players are contesting for this award, along with Felix. One of them is the recently signed Real Madrid midfielder, Jude Bellingham, who has continued his good form for Los Blancos with his last-gasp winner in the group stage opener.
Another contestant is the Porto striker Galeno, who had a strong outing against Shakhtar Donetsk as he scored twice in the match. He will be of particular interest to Barcelona as Porto and Barcelona share their group in the Champions League and will face off in the upcoming group stage match.
Lastly, the former Real Madrid player, Martin Odegaard, is the last competitor for Felix for this award. He led his Arsenal side to a strong win against PSV Eindhoven and scored a goal in this match.
While all these players have a strong case for the award, Felix has the best odds of winning it because of his sumptuous performance against Royal Antwerp.
