Thursday, February 25, 2021 at 00:25• Daniel Cabot Kerkdijk • Last update: 00:31

No goal and not his very best game for Barcelona, ​​but Frenkie de Jong receives only positive criticism after the home match against Elche (3-0) in LaLiga. The the Dutch-international was in the second half with a wonderful rush of 55 meters, in which he left three opponents behind, at the basis of one of the two hits by Lionel Messi in the Camp Nou. The newspapers in Spain show their reverence with many positive words about his running actions, shown work ethic and the way in which De Jong prepared the 2-0.

“The smartest footballer of everyone on the field”, emphasizes ASH. “He lasted ninety minutes without seeing a yellow card. After all, a print would have meant that De Jong would be missing against Sevilla on Saturday. His action prior to Messi’s second goal was unquestionably from a stratospheric level footballer. It is a shame that he does not always reach this level. ” The way in which the Madrid sports newspaper describes the second hit and its preparation is revealing. “What a golazo from Barcelona. De Jong shows three opponents in 55 meters and what about the barbaric completion of Messi? This goal was a true work of art. ”

Sport quickly finished handing out reviews. De Jong and nine colleagues received a seven; only Messi was an exception with a nine. The sports newspaper from Catalonia mainly saw ‘an involved De Jong’. “In the first half he was not inspired at all at the ball, although he was out of his lungs and left nothing to chance. After the break he gradually got going and showed his very best version. The assist on Messi was a real golden ball. ”

“An artist”, is how De Jong continues Marca described: El Artista. The most sold sports newspaper in Spain enjoyed the way the Dutchman cleared his way to the penalty area after 69 minutes of play. “He started almost from the sidelines and ended at the penalty area, where his pass à la Michael Laudrup was the icing on the cake,” they said. no look-pass what the Danish former football player sprinkled with in the eighties and nineties.

Mundo Deportivo noted that De Jong was not always well understood by his teammates in the first half. “In the first half, he tried to separate the lines of Elche with vertical runs without a ball, but he was never noticed by his teammates. In the second half, De Jong chose to do it himself, run more than fifty meters with the ball at his foot and let Messi score his second goal ”, analyzed the Catalan sports newspaper, which the ex-player of Willem II and also gives Ajax a nickname: El Rompelíneas, the line breaker.

Journalist Javier Gascón from Mundo Deportivo watched De Jong ‘multiply’ in the second half. “He had a double mission that he fulfilled to perfection”, the Spaniard begins his analysis of the Dutchman. “Óscar Mingueza and Jordi Alba played more forward and made sure the field was opened, while De Jong took place as a third central defender alongside Gerard Piqué and Samuel Umtiti. That made the build-up of the Barcelona game more careful. ”

“But De Jong had not forgotten his greatest virtue for this Barcelona: breaking through lines, with or without the ball. And as an accomplished top footballer, he invented an ingenious way to get Messi to make it 2-0. It was a combination of quality and character ”, Gascón concluded. Bee ElDesmarque not a high rating for De Jong: a six. “Not for the first time, he gave everything he had. The Dutchman was not that brilliant at the ball, but he compensated for that with a zest for work and running actions “, is the verdict of Celia Pérez.” After his great action, Messi’s 2-0 fell. The Argentinian is better than the rest on foot alone. Can you imagine what he is capable of if De Jong gets it on his hips. ”