At the end of 34 rounds of La Liga, Real Madrid are 15 points ahead of second-place Barca, having already won the league title early with four rounds left in the league. The title already belongs, and all that's left is a scramble for second to fourth place, which is about qualifying for next season's Champions League. Barca currently have 66 points in 34 league games, 9 points ahead of Betis in 5th place in 1 round, Sevilla in third place by 7 points, and Atletico in fourth place by only 4 points ahead of Betis.
Barca and Sevilla are still more likely to retain the top four, while Atletico are only 4 points ahead of Betis in the first round, the fourth place position is not secure, Atletico has only won 1 game in the last 4 league rounds, and the remaining 3 games are 1 draw and 2 losses, which is not in good shape. With Atletico still facing Real Madrid and Sevilla in the remaining four rounds of the league, whether they can get points from these two teams is directly related to whether Atletico can retain the fourth place in the end.
Atletico were last season's league champions and have picked up French striker Griezmann last summer, but this season's form has fluctuated and Atletico's previously proud defence has lost its former glory. In 34 league games, there were only 18 wins, while champions Real Madrid won 25. If Atletico perform slightly worse in the next four league rounds, they risk losing their Champions League qualification for next season.
If there is no Champions League to play next season, it will be a huge blow to Atletico, Who has always been a regular in the Champions League and a spoiler in the Champions League, and has reached the Champions League final twice in the past few seasons, but unfortunately both times fell at the feet of their rivals Real Madrid in the same city. Although they have not won the Champions League so far, there is a world of difference between having to play and not having to play, and once Atletico have no Champions League to play, then some players in the team may have to seek a transfer.
For example, Portugal striker Felix, according to Barca reporter Gerard Romero, if Atletico madrid do not qualify for next season's Champions League, Felix may seek to leave the team in the summer, and Felix's next stop is Barca. Felix's agent Mendes and his lawyer recently had dinner with the Barca board, and the two sides talked a lot about this meeting, including Felix's joining.
In the summer of 2019, Atletico bought Felix from Portuguese Super League side Benfica for €126 million, intending to let Felix take over Griezmann's mantle and become atletico's core striker for the next decade or so. However, after Felix joined Atletico, due to his own characteristics and head coach Simeone's tactics, Felix has not shown a performance in Benfica for three seasons.
In the 2019-2020 season, Felix made 36 appearances for Atletico, contributing 9 goals and 3 assists, in the 2020-2021 season, he made 40 appearances for Atletico, contributing 10 goals and 6 assists, so far this season, 35 appearances for Atletico, contributing 10 goals and 6 assists, the season is not completely over, Felix's stats are expected to increase, efficiency is better than the previous two seasons, but there is still a gap from the benfica season of 20 goals and 11 assists.
Since 2020, there have been media reports that Felix wants to leave Atletico and join a team that suits his characteristics. Felix's characteristics are suitable for Benfica's tactics of relying on passing, running, and scoring goals in attack, and Barca is such a team, and Xavi has played Barca's passing techniques and tactics to the fullest after his arrival. If Felix moves to Barca, a similar scene in Atletico's history will repeat itself.
In the summer of 2019, Atletico's number one striker, Griezmann, moved to Barcelona for a transfer fee of €120 million because he could not win the title at Atletico for many years. Atletico bought Felix with the 120 million euros and another 6 million euros. Now that Griezmann has been depressed for two seasons at Barca, he is back at Atletico, while Felix is going to follow in Griezmann's footsteps and move to Barca, and once Felix does join Barca, it will be a big irony for Atletico.