‘Wild boar’ Frenkie de Jong shines: ‘Clearly clear. Smart. Maradona-esque’


Friday, February 25, 2022 at 00:13• Dominic Mostert • Last update: 00:19

Xavi is lyrical about the performance of Frenkie de Jong in the Europa League match between Napoli and Barcelona (2-4). The midfielder scored a beautiful goal and contributed to the crucial victory in Naples. “Frenkie de Jong is a genius. He is very, very good,” says the Barcelona coach. The media in Spain are also full of praise for De Jong. radio station RAC1 named him man of the match; marca headlines that he showed his ‘best version’ at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona. “Pure talent”, it sounds in the Madrid newspaper.

De Jong not only scored, but was also of value in the 1-4 of Barcelona. Adama Traoré sent a pass from the right flank along the box; De Jong made a switch and eventually Aubameyang had the space to score his fourth official goal for his new club, four days after his hat-trick against Valencia (1-4 win). “He scored a beautiful goal,” the newspaper said marca† “He’s taken the step Xavi asked for. Across the shaft. Crisp. Smart. Confident. His involvement in Aubamayang’s goal is a football lesson: he saw the Gabonese come and let Adama’s cross pass as he drags several Italian players along What a delightful display.”

Mundo Deportivo awards De Jong a good rating. “With a great goal from outside the box, he signed for the 0-2. A shot from a great distance, while he is normally not known for that. Aggressive when putting pressure and so smart to make a transition before the 1- 4 from Aubameyang. One of his best matches at Barca,” concludes the regional sports newspaper. marca agrees. “It is worth highlighting the performance of Frenkie de Jong, also apart from the goal. He shows a lot of confidence in his game late and he played his best minutes of the season today.” ASH keep it simple: “This is the player who cost Barcelona €86 million.”

Sport awards De Jong a 9 for his performance. “He was the first to push like a wild boar, conjuring a perfect shot from the top hat. Maradona-esque, but with the other leg. One of his most complete matches in the Barcelona shirt: everything went well for him. This is the Frenkie we want.” Also in the studio of ESPN The goal of De Jong is considered. “We have hardly seen him do this in the past year and a half,” says Marciano Vink about the striking long shot. “What I also like: I see a smile on his face again. He has of course had a lot of criticism, also from the Netherlands, that it was all too perfunctory and that he mainly gave wide passes.”

“One week he was really good and the next week he wasn’t. You have to be able to deal with that, but I liked seeing that smile on his face. He also just loves football. We can say a lot, but Xavi has It’s quite on track. He has also beaten Atlético Madrid and Valencia well. He has of course brought in good players, but it is flowing again,” concludes Vink. Barcelona will learn on Friday who will be the opponent in the eighth final of the Europa League. West Ham United, Olympique Lyon, AS Monaco, Bayer Leverkusen, Eintracht Frankfurt, Spartak Moscow, Red Star Belgrade and Galatasaray are the possible opponents.

De Jong himself speaks of a ‘good game’ by Barcelona, ​​which he believes is on the right track. “You notice in the last few weeks that we are getting better. If you win, you get more and more confidence. Boys have come back. There are now a few absentees (Sergi Roberto, Samuel Umtiti, Ansu Fati, Memphis Depay, Clément Lenglet and Álex Balde, ed.). Soon everyone will be back and then you will get better and better. Then we have a very good selection. We want to win the Europa League, of course. We have to be good every game and then we go for it,” said De Jong , who modestly responds to a compliment for his goal. “Yes, it was a good goal,” he laughs.