Atletico Madrid fans abuse Joao Felix with brutal chant as training session abandoned

Atletico Madrid fans abused Joao Felix so badly that the training session had to be cancelled on Monday.

Atleti kicked off the new season with a 3-1 win over Granada that sent them to top of the table. Alvaro Morata, Memphis Depay and Marcos Llorente were all on target at the Civitas Metropolitano.

Felix, who has returned from a loan spell at Chelsea at the back-end of last season, was an unused substitute and appears to be surplus to requirements.

He looked to be sat separately from his teammates on the bench, but it was his own supporters who gave him the hardest time.

Afterwards, Felix and the rest of the subs who didn't feature took part in a fitness session. It was supposed to be a light, casual session but it ended prematurely because of Atletico's supporters.

Many stayed behind but just to insult Felix, shouting, "this Portuguese guy, son of a bi*** he is". It got so bad that Atletico coaches decided to cancel the after-game session.

Pretty wild scenes at the end of Atleti’s game tonight.

Coaching staff had to suspend the after game fitness session for the unused substitutions because too many fans stayed and insulted Felix.

Insults heard: “this Portuguese guy, son of a bi*** he is.” pic.twitter.com/JZtn2eLYLp

— EiF (@EiFSoccer) August 15, 2023

Felix, an £113 million signing from Benfica back in 2019, was recently stripped of the No.7 shirt at Atletico and has been heavily linked with a move away from the club.

Barcelona have been touted as a potential destination but manager Diego Simeone hasn't completely ruled out the idea of Felix featuring in his plans for the season.

Speaking after the game, he told AS: "I see that the La Liga has started, he is with us, he knows what we need and want, what we are going to demand of him, he has to compete with Memphis, Griezmann, Morata and Correa and if he is better than them, he will play."

The Portugal international scored four times for Chelsea last season and played with captain Cesar Azpilicueta, who is now his colleague at Atletico after returning to Spain.

He's urged Felix to put in the work and give his "maximum" in order to work his way into the side.

It’s a complicated situation, I was his teammate at Chelsea, now at Atleti," Azpilicueta also told AS.

"Giving the maximum is what we have in our hands, giving the maximum for the club we represent, in this case Atleti. Grit your teeth and keep fighting, there is no other secret in football."