FC Barcelona star Frenkie de Jong named what he believes was the worst game of his career during an interview with the club’s Barca One streaming service.
De Jong joined Barca from Ajax in 2019 for a fee of $81 million (€75 million), and he has now completed five full seasons in Blaugrana.
As part of a chat with the club following his 200th appearance, De Jong didn’t shy away from reflecting on an 8-2 Champions League quarterfinal defeat to Bayern Munich in his maiden campaign.
“I think it was the worst night of my career at Barcelona,” he said.
“Maybe even in the history of Barca. I haven’t been in every game and I haven’t experienced it in the same way, but as a player I experienced it differently.
“It was also the worst match of my career so far. The first nights it was hard to sleep,” De Jong confessed.
On the other hand, though, De Jong greatly enjoyed a 4-0 away win over Madrid at the Bernabeu in El Clasico back in March 2022.
“The 0-4 at the Bernabeu was very nice. Beating Madrid is always good. Winning the Clasico was a very pleasant feeling. It was strange because we were behind them in the table. When we also beat them in the final of the Spanish Super Cup, it was very nice. We deserved to win,” De Jong insisted.
Now fifth on the list of Dutchmen with the most appearances for the Catalans, De Jong hopes to one day surpass the likes of Michael Reiziger, Partrick Kluivert, Ronald Koeman and Phillip Cocu, who leads on 292 outings.
“Beating Cocu would be great. I think I still have a long way to go but of course I would like to be the first,” said De Jong, who is “proud to be one of Barca’s captains”.
“When I was appointed it didn’t change my approach approach, although doing the same things on the pitch you have more responsibilities. So I tried to change it and help people, although my approach remained the same,” De Jong also said, when discussing being named one of the skippers.
“I hope to play for many more years at Barca,” he concluded, at a time when he continues to be linked with a possible move away from the La Liga giants.
