AP, Barcelona :
After undergoing the most thorough offseason overhaul of his squad since taking over Atlético Madrid eight years ago, coach Diego Simeone will look to a teenager to keep his team fighting for titles.
It will be 19-year-old sensation João Félix, the heir apparent to Cristiano Ronaldo in Portugal, in charge of taking over the goals and attacking flare of Antoine Griezmann, the team’s main star for the last few years. Griezmann was one of the many top players who left Atlético this summer, along with defenders Diego Godín, Filipe Luís and Juanfran Torres.
Félix’s elegant gliding moves are more reminiscent of former Brazil midfielder Kaka than the brute firepower of Ronaldo. But he has shown he too can score in bunches after netting 20 goals in his only season with Benfica’s main team, including one in the match in which the club clinched the Portuguese league title.
Félix was the youngest player to appear in Benfica’s “B” team at 16; the youngest to score at the team’s Stadium of Light at 18; and the youngest to score a hat trick in the Europa League at 19, after the competition was re-branded in 2009.
After undergoing the most thorough offseason overhaul of his squad since taking over Atlético Madrid eight years ago, coach Diego Simeone will look to a teenager to keep his team fighting for titles.
It will be 19-year-old sensation João Félix, the heir apparent to Cristiano Ronaldo in Portugal, in charge of taking over the goals and attacking flare of Antoine Griezmann, the team’s main star for the last few years. Griezmann was one of the many top players who left Atlético this summer, along with defenders Diego Godín, Filipe Luís and Juanfran Torres.
Félix’s elegant gliding moves are more reminiscent of former Brazil midfielder Kaka than the brute firepower of Ronaldo. But he has shown he too can score in bunches after netting 20 goals in his only season with Benfica’s main team, including one in the match in which the club clinched the Portuguese league title.
Félix was the youngest player to appear in Benfica’s “B” team at 16; the youngest to score at the team’s Stadium of Light at 18; and the youngest to score a hat trick in the Europa League at 19, after the competition was re-branded in 2009.
