João Félix, once again the scourge of Simeone

João Félix drives the ball during the Real Madrid-Atlético match last Saturday at the Alfredo di Stéfano stadium.AFP7 via Europa Press / Europa Press

"In no contract is it written that a player must start or play 90 minutes," slides an Atlético manager.

Above that among some members of the board it is difficult to understand the change of João Félix, his angry reaction after being substituted in the derby, at the time of the game and with 1-0 on the scoreboard, has unleashed a general anger against the chain of gestures of disagreement from the players towards Simeone.

The slights carousel was started by Marcos Llorente in the Metropolitano against Lokomotiv Moscow, Luis Suárez and Saúl continued in Salzburg, and was extended by the Portuguese striker in the stands of Alfredo Di Stéfano.

At Atlético they assure that disciplinary measures will not be taken, although they do not rule out that there are internal conversations to stop those outbursts that have transmitted such a bad image of the group.

The movements with the head, denoting incomprehension, and the violent kick into the air that João Félix launched before settling in the rostrum reserved for the substitutes revealed a footballer who does not quite square a relationship of mutual trust with his coach.

In the club they defend that Simeone already explained the change in football terms at the end of the game, arguing that he needed more physicality in the center of the field to prevent Madrid from ending up scoring more goals.

This happened just after Simeone ordered the controversial Portuguese change, with Carvajal's goal.

Cholo not only thought about the possibility of tying the game, but his decision was also to preserve the

particular

for what may happen at the end of the championship.

The entry of Kondogbia by Luis Suárez already went in that direction.

The question is whether João Félix's snub will sink seriously in the relationship he maintains with the coach.

Since he landed at Atlético for 126 million euros, this has become a scourge for Simeone because his characteristics played against the coach's most classic script.

At the beginning of last season he screeched when the coach reserved a place for him on the right wing, with defensive obligations that he had never performed and that took him away from the most advanced attack zones.

The player expressed his dissatisfaction with the position.

Also his agent, Jorge Mendes, showed his dissatisfaction with the club.

The representation mogul made it clear at that time that he had not brought his client to Atlético to play that way.

At times, the encystment of the conflict was on the way to the most complex decision for the club: either the player or the coach.

Better records

In the relationship to three bands, player, coach, club, the feeling always hovers that if the team's game does not accommodate the characteristics of the first, it will not take long to request their departure.

In the player's worst moments last season, Mendes already made moves in the English market with a view to a premature sale.

João Félix's substitution in Lisbon, in the quarterfinals against Leipzig, also raised blisters and greatly upset the player and his manager.

All three parties were granted a kind of second chance with the start of this season.

The shift to a more offensive team driven by the players had brought the more continuous explosion of João Félix.

He appeared in the derby with eight goals and three assists between the League and the Champions League and doubling his record of passes and dribbles compared to last year.

In the hour of play on the grass of Valdebebas, João Félix suffered, like the rest of the team, the inability to get out of the pressure that Real Madrid put him under.

Aculated by Atlético by his rival and for not finding solutions, the Portuguese left at the time of the game without a shot on goal.

But also when Lemar's occasion warned that his team began to generate more in attack.