After a very difficult phase, things are definitely improving for Xavi Hernandez at FC Barcelona. For one, he has gotten his team to the second place in the league, though Girona have yet to play their game on matchday 26.
Similarly, the Barcelona head coach is also close to recovering almost his full squad, barring the long-term absences of Gavi and Balde. One of the players who got back into the starting lineup after having missed the last four league games with an ankle injury was the Portuguese forward, Joao Felix.
As SPORT has noted, this was a game with which Felix proved a lot of his detractors wrong. Before arriving at the Catalan club, and mainly for his performances at Atletico Madrid, the winger had a reputation for not putting in the required defensive work.
However, against Getafe, he kept running and pressing his opponents and, ironically, he showed most of the characteristics associated with his previous coach, Diego Simeone, in this match while playing for Barcelona.
Felix was rewarded for his efforts with a goal, which he scored after an assist from Christensen. With this goal, the Portuguese has taken his La Liga goal tally to five this season, and all of his goals have been highly important for Barcelona.
He opened his account in the game against Real Betis at the Montjuic, where he opened the scoring. Then he also had a key goal against the Verdiblancos in the Benito Villamarin. His goal allowed Barcelona to get a point against Valencia, and he also scored the only goal to win the match against his former team Atletico Madrid.
His latest and fifth goal allowed Barcelona to take full control of the match against Getafe. But his performance will be encouraging for Xavi even beyond this goal, as the head coach will be glad to have recovered a differential forward in time for the final stretch of the 2023-24 season.
