BARCELONA: Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez called on Joao Felix to use criticism from his former Atletico Madrid team-mates to motivate him when the teams meet on Sunday in La Liga.
The Portuguese forward, on loan at Barca from Atletico Madrid, failed to convince coach Diego Simeone during four years in the Spanish capital.
Atletico playmaker Antoine Griezmann this week said Felix lacked “consistency” or “got tired” of finding it, while midfielder Saul Niguez also said Felix had plenty to improve on.
Simeone said Saturday he did not want to speak about the forward because he was not at the club, despite still being an Atletico player.
“(The criticism) should be extra motivation against Atletico,” Xavi told reporters Saturday.
“I see he is motivated and happy, he is being consistent, I am happy with his performance and how he has adapted to the group.”
Barcelona loaned Atletico’s record 126 million euro ($137 million) signing in the summer and after an impressive start, he began to struggle.
Felix scored his first goal in 13 matches against Porto on Tuesday as Barcelona secured qualification to the Champions League last 16.
The victory helped quieten the negative noises around the club after a string of bad performances and Xavi hopes they can build on it against Atletico.
“We have to find our game, the second half against Porto was very good ... we have to be more consistent,” said the coach.
“We can’t say we’re in our best moment of the season, (but) we have had some very good minutes.
“We have to improve our performances and the consequence will be good results.”
Xavi confirmed goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen was still sidelined because of back pain and will not feature at the weekend.
Champions Barcelona are fourth after last weekend’s draw at Rayo Vallecano, while Atletico Madrid are third, level with the Catalans on 31 points.
Simeone said his team was still at a disadvantage against the traditional big two — Barcelona and Real Madrid — but were always looking to level the playing field.
“In principle Barcelona and Madrid start with more chance of winning, but in recent times we’ve cut the gap,” said the coach.
“This is about deeds and not words, and we will keep working to keep cutting into it.”
Xavi calls on Felix to let Atletico criticism inspire him
https://arab.news/w4b5q
Xavi calls on Felix to let Atletico criticism inspire him
- Atletico playmaker Antoine Griezmann this week said Felix lacked “consistency” or “got tired” of finding it
- “(The criticism) should be extra motivation against Atletico,” Xavi told reporters Saturday
Diaz scores again as hosts Morocco beat Cameroon to reach AFCON semis
- Diaz’s fifth goal in five matches at the tournament was followed by Saibari’s strike in the second half
- Morocco are under enormous pressure to win the Cup of Nations in front of their own fans
RABAT: Brahim Diaz kept up his remarkable Africa Cup of Nations scoring record and Ismael Saibari was also on target as hosts Morocco beat Cameroon 2-0 in their quarter-final showdown on Friday to keep their title dreams alive.
Real Madrid winger Diaz got the decisive touch to Ayoub El Kaabi’s 26th-minute header in front of more than 64,000 fans at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in capital Rabat.
Diaz’s fifth goal in five matches at the tournament was followed by Saibari’s strike in the second half, with Morocco well worth their victory as they progress to a semifinal against the winner of Saturday’s clash between Algeria and Nigeria.
That promises to be a stiffer test for Walid Regragui’s team than that posed by Cameroon, who were hoping to spring an upset having already exceeded expectations in coming this far after a troubled build-up to the tournament.
The Indomitable Lions, five-time African champions, created little with Manchester United forward Bryan Mbeumo struggling to make an impact.
Morocco, Africa’s top-ranked team and World Cup semifinalists in 2022, are under enormous pressure to win the Cup of Nations in front of their own fans, half a century after their last continental title.
There have been doubts as to whether they can handle the weight of expectation, but they remain on course to achieve their objective — it is the first time Morocco have reached the AFCON semifinals since they lost the 2004 final to Tunisia.
The hosts were unchanged from their 1-0 last-16 win over Tanzania as they looked to continue an unbeaten record going back to their defeat by South Africa at the 2024 AFCON.
Fresh from knocking out South Africa in the last round here, Cameroon were clearly banking on frustrating Morocco as much as possible in an attempt to turn the crowd against the home side.
- Saibari seals it -
Morocco were beaten by the Cameroonians in the semifinals the last time they hosted AFCON in 1988, but a repeat outcome never really looked likely.
David Pagou’s team were not helped by the early loss of right wing-back Jackson Tchamadeu, who tried to carry on after Noussair Mazraoui landed heavily on his knee before eventually being stretchered off.
Moments after that, Morocco scored. Achraf Hakimi sent in a corner from the right which was headed toward goal by El Kaabi at the near post, and the ball struck Diaz in the groin before going in.
That calmed a frenetic home support, who cheered their team off at the break after seeing Abde Ezzalzouli and El Kaabi come close to adding further goals.
Morocco were on top, and Cameroon’s response was to change formation after the break, from a back three to a 4-2-3-1, in an attempt to create more danger.
Ezzalzouli headed just over from a Hakimi corner, and then a cross by the Paris Saint-Germain star caused havoc in the Cameroon box as Samuel Kotto hooked the ball away from the line.
Mbeumo had appeals for a penalty dismissed by the Mauritanian referee before PSV Eindhoven’s Saibari fired in the killer second goal on 74 minutes after controlling Ezzalzouli’s dead-ball delivery, as Morocco march on to Wednesday’s semis.
