Barcelona thrashed Royal Antwerp in their opening group stage game of this season’s UEFA Champions League.
The Blaugrana’s attacking prowess was on display as they put five goals past a hapless Belgian side that hardly looked threatening.
The deadlock was broken in as early as the 11th minute by Joao Felix and it took Barcelona a mere eight more minutes to score their second.
Lewandowski admires Felix
While it was Robert Lewandowski who put the ball in the net, the work was largely done by Felix. Speaking about his Portuguese teammate after the game, the veteran forward said that Felix is an out-and-out offensive player.
“Joao Felix thinks like an offensive player. He plays forward and creates spaces with or without the ball. He is always looking to get forward, so I have to be ready,” said the veteran forward.
The forward, who capitalized on Felix’s perfect cross, seemed very happy about the team’s performance, adding,
“You see when we play in our attacking style, we score a lot of goals. I am happy and proud of the team. We created chances and scored 5 goals. This means everything is under control!”
Opening up on his connection with Joao Felix, he added: “Sometimes understanding comes from the beginning.”
Jules Kounde wants more
Despite a resounding 5-0 win, defender Jules Kounde said that Barça’s aim this season will be to be as competitive as possible. The former Sevilla man added that considering their luck in the competition last season, he would want to team to score more goals.
“The goal is to be competitive but we have to remember where we come from, we want to go far this year,” said the defender.
“We want more, because last year, we scored the first goal and then struggled to score the second goal… Now we want to score a lot of goals.”
“Defence is very important to me, we are very good and I think we will continue on this path,” he added.
Hope is a good thing
Barcelona have scored 10 goals in the last two games, leading to the suggestion that good things are expected this season. While speaking about this, the defender said,
“It’s good for people to have hope, we have to continue like this. It’s only the beginning of the season, and there’s still a long way to go.”
“We brought the necessary strength to start the competition well. It’s only the first game, and we have to do the same thing again in a few days,” he explained.
Words on the Joaos
Both Felix and Joao Cancelo have made strong starts to their respective careers at Barcelona. The two have adapted well in no time, having four goals and an assist between them in two games.
When asked about the impact the Portuguese duo has made, Kounde added,
“The Joaos have integrated very well and are playing very well. We are very happy. Joao Cancelo is very good, he adds something offensively, and he helps the team a lot.”
