Barcelona-bound De Jong: Cool to impress, but focus on Ajax
Impressing Barcelona was not as important as helping Ajax dump Real Madrid out of the Champions League for Frenkie de Jong.
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.
De Jong helps Ajax knock Barcelona's arch rivals out of Europe
Trailing 2-1 from the first leg of their Champions League last-16 tie, Ajax stunned the crowd at the Santiago Bernabéu 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 Clásico rivals Barcelona.
"I'm mostly happy for Ajax and the fans"
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 Bernabéu.
"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."
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."