“Better than Ajax”: Da Jong’s blossom

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Especially in winter, Barcelona is experiencing spring: Although the gap from the top in the Spanish league is still large, Ronald Koeman’s team continues to connect and issue results – and last night (Wednesday), they qualified for the quarterfinals of the Spanish King’s Cup, after beating Rayo Vallecano 1: 2 away. In the last 13 games, Barça have lost only once, and the one who is at the center of the praise is the winner of the Wickas victory – Frankie de Jong.

The Dutch midfielder, it will be recalled, arrived last summer as a big promise, after Ajax’s memorable season (which was within touching distance of the Champions League final) – but did not quite manage to fulfill it. This season it seems that things are connecting for him too, and his performance yesterday garnered quite a few compliments: in the “S”, for example, they gave him a score of 8 (the highest among Barça players) and noted: “Although he started the game quietly, but grew as the game progressed. .. started in the course of the equalizer, and scored a dramatic winning goal. “

“We need him,” said Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman (one who has known De Jong well since his time as Dutch national team coach), “We need all the ties to play more offensively. He has a lot of technical qualities, and he helps us build the game from behind. In fact, “He is better and more complete than when he played for Ajax. It helps us produce and conquer.” As for the rest of the game, Koeman said: “By and large, I am very happy. We had a good game. We showed character in the second half. Lately we have achieved quite a few justified victories.”

How big is Da Jong’s improvement? He has scored four goals in his last seven games in the Barcelona uniform. That’s more than he’s scored in 62 (!) Previous games. On Saturday, Barça will return to the league when they meet Athletic Bilbao (the last to beat them, in the Super Cup final). With the meeting with Paris Saint-Germain on the horizon, even at the Camp Nou they know it’s their time to continue to cling to the top, and reach the record for a meeting with Pochettino and his friends in the Champions League.

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