Joao Felix scores winner for Barcelona against his parent club Atletico Madrid

Joao Felix scored the winner against his parent club as Barcelona beat Atletico Madrid 1-0 at home to move above them in the LaLiga table.

Felix, who joined Barca on loan during the summer, grabbed the only goal with a deft finish in the 28th minute – five days on from scoring his side’s second in their 2-1 Champions League victory over Porto.

Raphinha almost doubled the lead when he hit a post after the break, before Barca goalkeeper Inaki Pena came to the fore with some fine saves that included turning a Memphis Depay free-kick against the crossbar.

FÉLIX RISING pic.twitter.com/EZHmycEk3R

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) December 3, 2023

Xavi’s men replace Diego Simeone’s Atletico in third, with a four-point gap to leaders Real Madrid and second-placed Girona – Barcelona’s opponents at the Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium next Sunday.

Barca had a starting line-up unchanged from the Porto match until an issue in the warm-up for Inigo Martinez resulted in the defender being replaced by Andreas Christensen.

After the contest got under way, the home side had a chance in the opening seconds as Raphinha advanced into the box and shot wide.

Fellow forward Robert Lewandowski hit a subsequent volley off-target, before Felix put the hosts in front, collecting the ball from Raphinha, getting past Nahuel Molina and lifting the ball over Jan Oblak in delightful fashion.

NOPE. pic.twitter.com/a2eiX2PkFd

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) December 3, 2023

The Portuguese then saw his flick well kept out by Oblak with a minute of normal time remaining in the first half.

Raphinha went closer in the 57th minute as his shot came back off a post, shortly before Pena produced a good save to keep out an Alvaro Morata attempt.

After Felix put another attempt wide, there were then further heroics from Pena in the 80th minute as he diverted ex-Barca man Depay’s free-kick onto the bar.

Lewandowski tried his luck again six minutes later, shooting wide, before Pena excelled once again in stoppage time to thwart Depay’s fellow substitute Angel Correa and ensure the champions claimed three points.