Barcelona could return to normality after international break: Frenkie de Jong

Barcelona suffered a humiliating 2-0 defeat against Atletico Madrid in their last match and are placed ninth in the points table with twelve points from seven games.

Frenkie de Jong has been one of the few positives for Barcelona this season; Credit: Twitter/@DeJongFrenkie21
By Sreejith C R | Oct 6, 2021 | 3 Min Read follow icon Follow Us

Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong has been one of the few positives for the club in the last year or so. The Dutchman, who is his own biggest critic, believes that the Catalan club certainly needs to improve a lot but the current situation is ‘exaggerated’. Barcelona suffered a humiliating 2-0 defeat against Atletico Madrid in their last match and are placed ninth in the points table with twelve points from seven games. Meanwhile it was their first league defeat of the season and de Jong believes it’s too early to write them off.

De Jong was speaking in the press conference from the Netherlands’ training base and was asked about Barcelona’s current situation.

“It’s being exaggerated a lot, we’re not in a rut. The results are bad, no one can ignore that,” he said.

“You can note a negative feeling around the club, which makes sense when you have bad results at a club like Barcelona. I’m disappointed, but I’m not down.”

The playmaker believes that the international break has come at the right time for Barcelona and they will come back stronger after it.

“It’s good we have the break now, if we go back to Barcelona games after the international games I think we could return to normality.” De Jong said. 

Blaugrana are five points adrift of league leaders Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid.

“People are exaggerating when they say the season is already a write-off. We don’t have that many fewer points than Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid, and there are a lot of games left to play.”

Nothing is lost: Frenkie De Jong

“So, nothing is lost, not at all. We started badly in the Champions League, but we still have every chance [of qualifying for the last 16]” De Jong added.

Meanwhile in the Champions League, the Catalan club has had the worst start ever, losing the opening two group matches with a scoreline of 3-0 and sit at the bottom of Group E. However the 24-year-old’s performance has been good but the team lack’s quality up front.

Even in the 3-0 loss to Benfica in the last Champions League match, Barcelona created opportunities but weren’t clinical in front of goal.

“I expect more of myself, for sure, but I’m simply not the type of player who’s going to score 30 goals in a season. Don’t know any midfielder who is,” said De Jong.

“I don’t think I’m a player who should be judged at the end of the season on goals and assists. It’s exaggerated sometimes, I’m not in the best form of my life, but I’ve not been that bad either.

“I read the criticism of my play after the Benfica game… often such criticisms are based on results.”

Barca boss Ronald Koeman has been under immense pressure after the dismal start to the campaign, with many connected to the club calling for his head. However, the club president Juan Laporta might opt to stick with the Dutch tactician for now because the club doesn’t have too many other options because of financial constraints.

After the international break, Barcelona will host Valencia on October 18 before facing Dynamo Kyiv in the Champions League fixture and then on October 24, they will play the El Clasico at Camp Nou.





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