Many clubs in the world of football, including FC Barcelona, are not alien to the prospect of loaning players. At times, due to whatever reasons, certain players or clubs wish to temporarily part ways. Barcelona already have several such players right now, both at the club and away as well.
However, it is rather common to see such loan deals happen with certain conditions. Whenever a player is sent away to another team for a short period of time, some clubs may choose to make use of a ‘fear clause’. Such clauses then prevent those players from facing their parent club if or whenever an encounter materializes.
Yet, it seems that Atletico Madrid are not too fond of this rule, and barely ever use it. However, this insistence may have cost them a little too much unnecessarily this season. As highlighted by SPORT, not making use of it on Joao Felix has resulted in the Portuguese star making them pay on every occasion.
In both games that have taken place between Barcelona and Atletico Madrid this season, Felix has been there to haunt his parent club. The first encounter in the Montjuic Stadium saw Felix’s sublime finish be the difference maker. It was the only goal of the game, and gave Barcelona all three points.
Now, in the latest 3-0 thrashing of Atletico at the Metropolitano, the Portuguese star once again opened the scoring. Even when he has some rather quiet moments, he knows exactly when to pop up. This ability allowed him to convert Robert Lewandowski’s cut-in pass and push it past Jan Oblak.
For now, this is all that Atletico will have to see of Felix this season. The two guaranteed La Liga encounters are done with, and the 24-year-old forward has helped Barcelona win both times. However, a hypothetical third encounter awaits both teams if Barcelona manages to beat PSG and Atletico manages to beat Borussia Dortmund in the UEFA Champions League.
This would mean a guaranteed semifinal between both La Liga sides in the Champions League. One last and final two-legged affair would then see Felix revisit the Metropolitano and also welcome Atletico to the Montjuic Stadium once more. Given his record, Barcelona will be confident he pops off against his parent club one last time in that case.
