Spanish Primera Liga giants Atletico Madrid (ATM) have kicked off their 2023-24 season.
The first leg of the La Liga tie against Granada took place on April 15 at the Civitas Metropolitano in Madrid, Spain. ATM won a cool 3-1 victory behind goals from Morata, Depay, and Llorente.
However, there was a moment in the game that was more controversial than ATM’s cool victory. Before the game started, some ATM fans in the stands shouted insults at a player. “That Portuguese player, he’s an asshole,” the ATM fans shouted.
Who was it, and why were they venting their anger with profanity?
It was João Felix. He’s a former Portuguese national team player who has been dubbed the next Cristiano Ronaldo. In 2019, ATM paid a whopping £113 million ($192 billion) for Felix from Benfica. It was the highest transfer fee in ATM’s history.
Felix arrived at ATM with huge expectations, but he didn’t quite live up to them. He had a falling out with ATM head coach Diego Simeone. Felix consistently made it clear that he was not happy with Simeone. This is why he went on loan to Chelsea last season.
His loan ended and he returned to ATM. He’s now at ATM, but his return has been tumultuous. Felix’s antipathy towards Simeone was still there. He expressed his desire to stay in England, including at Chelsea, but it didn’t happen.
But then something happened. The Barcelona transfer rumors. News broke that Barcelona wanted Felix. The two clubs entered into negotiations, which ATM reportedly rejected.
This is when Felix made a mistake: he dropped a “bombshell”.
“I want to play for Barcelona, Barcelona has always been my first choice. I want Barcelona to be my next club. Barcelona has always been my dream club since I was a kid. If this comes true, it will be a dream come true.”
The fallout has been significant. ATM was praising Barcelona, one of their biggest rivals in the league. It was disrespectful to ATM. ATM officials and fans felt betrayed. Felix quickly became an enemy of ATM. Some ATM fans defaced a banner with Felix’s face at the home stadium. “Go to Barcelona,” they wrote.
This is how Felix showed up at ATM’s opening La Liga home game. Felix was on the bench, but didn’t take the field. 메이저사이트
“ATM fans chanted ‘that Portuguese player, f**k you’ at Felix during their first league game,” the UK’s Daily Star reported. The ATM fans want Felix out of ATM, and they made that clear in the first game. He also appears to have fallen out of favor with Simeone.”