DBasia.news – Ajax Amsterdam midfielder, Frenkie de Jong, performed brilliantly when he held a draw against one of the Champions League favorites, Juventus, in the Champions League quarter-final first leg at Johan Cruyff Arena which ended in a 1-1 draw.
De Jong, 21 years old, shows the reason why Barcelona is willing to spend up to 86 million euros to recruit him from Ajax. The Dutch midfielder became Ajax midfield’s boss against Juventus midfield trio: Blaise Matuidi, Miralem Pjanic, and Rodrigo Bentancur.
Ajax’s success dominated 61 ball possession compared to 39 percent and is not separated from De Jong’s role in the midfield. De Jong was the metronome of Ajax’s game from the depths (Ajax’s defensive area), the midfield of the game, to one third of the Juventus defense.
Massimiliano Allegri, Juventus coach, was amazed by De Jong’s appearance, which he said was difficult to stop. Even Allegri admitted that he had prepared a special plan to stop De Jong, by giving specific instructions to Bentancur – and his plans did not go according to his will.
“De Jong is the main source of strength in their game (Ajax). We tried to control it with (Rodrigo) Crushing at the initial stage, but when he understood it, he moved deeper, and the attackers had to work hard through it. He played really well, “Allegri said, quoted from Dailymail.
De Jong incised the record that Barcelona midfielder, Sergio Busquets, has ever recorded, when against Inter Milan in 2010. Busquets, who will become De Jong’s teammate next season, was involved in 117 moves.
Note that equals the Busquets record in 2010. Through the data added by Marca, De Jong did 98 passes, 90 of which he successfully reached the target, and 54 passes occurred in the opponent’s defense. The percentage of success reaches 90 percent.
The statistics are very Barcelona. Blaugrana might find Xavi Hernandez new to Frenkie de Jong. In fact, the Ajax academy product also has the additional ability to survive through 17 times to win the ball against Juve and commit one violation.
There many who appreciate De Jong’s quality in his role as a regulator of playing in the midfield. De Jong doesn’t often score like Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi, but without him, the Ajax midfield and Dutch national team will not be as good as they are now.