Barcelona-bound De Jong: It's cool to impress, but focus on Ajax

Frenkie de Jong said it was "cool" to make a good impression ahead of his impending move to Barcelona, but he is happier for Ajax's fanbase after their remarkable victory over Real Madrid. Trailing 2-1 from the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie, Ajax stunned the crowd at the Santiago Bernabeu with a 4-1 masterclass to dump out the three-time defending champions.

De Jong was one of several players to impress in the Spanish capital and his performance was timely ahead of a close-season move to Madrid's fierce Clasico rivals Barcelona. But the Netherlands international was keen to stress the importance of the result to his current employers.

"[It was] cool," he told Veronica TV when asked about making a good impression at Barcelona. "But I'm mostly happy for Ajax and the fans. It is amazing to beat Real Madrid with these numbers, especially at the Bernabeu. 

"People might have expected something from us, but not in this fantastic manner. In the first game it wasn't much worse than this, but back then we were unlucky with the score. Now everything worked out perfectly for us."

March 5, 2019

On his performance, De Jong added: "I played a decent game, but at the end of the game it almost got tricky again because of me. I shouldn't have lost that ball there, but I had cramps in both legs. In a night like this that error luckily wasn't punished."