106 touches, 3/3 aerial duels: Underfire Barcelona star’s display against Real Betis offers a lot of promise | OneFootball

FC Barcelona played a brilliant game against Real Betis at the Montjuïc Stadium, beating the Andalusian side 5-1 on the night. It was a game that showed just how good Hansi Flick’s football could get if all the cogs start functioning in unison.

Hansi Flick named a starting XI with a number of impressive selections, in hindsight, and the rotations worked out very well on the night, it must be said. Among those players who got an opportunity was Frenkie de Jong.

The Dutchman has not had the best of times at Barcelona recently but last night’s performance should offer a lot of hope. Yesterday, we covered a story that the 27-year-old Dutchman was in the last chance salon at the club but boy, didn’t he step up against Betis.

Now, as per statistics collected by Sofa Score, Frenkie had a phenomenal game against the Verdiblancos. The Dutchman played the entire game on the night, recording 106 touches of the ball and completing an incredible 93 of his 100 attempted passes.

He had an immaculate assist that was robbed of him early in the second half. He also completed both of his two attempted long balls on the night. He looked very assured in position and provided excellent cover to Ronald Araujo.

As good as his numbers on the ball are, it was his performance off the ball that really caught the eye. Often ridiculed for his lack of defensive acumen, against Betis, Frenkie put in an excellent ball-winning display as well.

Frenkie won three out of his attempted six ground duels and more impressively, all three of his attempted aerial duels. For a player who has been struggling as much as the Dutchman has, this game would have been a boost of confidence.

Let’s wait and see if Frenkie can build on this performance and put in a string of consistent displays. It remains to be seen what the future holds for the Dutchman and let’s wait and see how things play out going forward.