Ajax reached the Champions League quarter-finals for the first time since 2003 with a stunning victory in the Bernabeu on Tuesday night
Trailing 2-1 from the first leg in Amsterdam, the four-time winners humbled Real Madrid 4-1, completely outclassing the outgoing European champions on their own turf.
Though it was very much a team performance from the Dutch club, there were several notable individual performances which caught the eye. Barcelona-bound Frenkie De Jong was undoubtedly one of them.
While the likes of Dusan Tadic might have had more of a direct influence on the game’s scoreline, De Jong showed numerous flashes which justified the hype surrounding him and the transfer fee Barca were willing to pay to bring him to the Camp Nou in time for the start of next season.
In the following footage from BT Sport, he receives the ball in his own half and is quickly under pressure from highly rated Brazilian youngster Vinicius Junior and Ballon d’Or winner Luka Modric. Having killed the ball with a first touch, he calmly drops a left shoulder, turns sharply and bursts forward towards the halfway line. Modric is left for dead; Vinicius falls to the turf.
Vinicius is also sent crashing to the deck in the second part of the video, this time as De Jong seizes possession on the edge of the Ajax penalty area. From there, a nifty piece of footwork sees him skip round Modric and into the Real half, holding off an attempted challenge from Casemiro before playing the ball to a teammate.
Frenkie De Jong: "During my contract signing, they said: 'Try to knock out Real.' That would also be great to Barca."
He kept his word.pic.twitter.com/shFYSS7MKd
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) March 6, 2019
De Jong is one of the shining lights in this talented young Ajax side. Still just 21, his performances over the last 18 months have seen many tip him to become one of the best players on the planet in years to come. If this display in Madrid is anything to go by, such predictions don’t seem too far fetched at all.
