Frenkie de Jong: 5-0 was my favourite El Clasico

Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong has spoken of his excitement in playing in his first ever El Clasico fixture.

The Dutch international joined the Catalan giants this summer in a €75m transfer from Ajax but has been a fan of the club since long before his move.

De Jong has spoken of his anticipation of playing in Wednesday night’s encounter at the Camp Nou, which he says is on a different level to the clashes between Ajax and Feyenoord in his native Netherlands.

Furthermore, the central midfielder – who is expected to start in a midfield trio with Sergio Busquets and Ivan Rakitic – spoke of his favourite ever El Clasico.

He reminisced about the Clasico in November 2010, when Barca – then coached by Pep Guardiola – memorably defeated Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid 5-0 in the Catalan capital.

“I’m very excited, it’s going to be my first El Clasico, but the one that I enjoyed the most was the 5-0 at the Camp Nou,” De Jong told reporters, as cited by Marca.

“Playing against Real Madrid is always special. Also, my family will come to see it. Surely a spectacular atmosphere will be created in the stands.

“Playing at the Camp Nou helps us a lot. The rival team also notices this, they know that it is the biggest stadium in Europe. This season, especially, we are doing well in our home games, and hopefully we will continue to win games here and score many goals to make our fans enjoy the games!

“Two of the best teams in the world will go head-to-head on the pitch. We will try to dominate the game, as we always do. I do not know how they will prepare for this, but we will do it in the same way as in any other: having possession, creating many chances and making the fans enjoy this team.

“La Liga is very close and I think this is good because there will be more tension than usual with so much depending on this game.

“In Holland we also have a ‘Classic;, which is the match between Ajax and Feyenoord. It has less impact than the one played here, but in Holland everyone talks about that game.

“The atmosphere is different from the others matches. You can perceive the tension in the stadium…these are the games that a player always wants to play.”

Tags El Clasico Frenkie de Jong
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