Frenkie de Jong names his ‘worst’ and ‘best’ day at Barcelona
Barcelona star Frenkie de Jong has recalled his side's humiliating 8-2 loss to Bayern Munich when naming his best and worst day in Blaugrana colors.
De Jong is coming up to five years spent with the Catalan giants. The Dutch midfielder arrived at Camp Nou from Ajax in July 2019 for €86 million.
The 26-year-old has flourished at Barcelona with 16 goals and 21 assists in 200 games across competitions. But, it has been a difficult period in the La Liga giants' history which perhaps reached its lowest point in 2020.
The Blaugrana suffered an embarrassing 8-2 defeat to Bayern in the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals. It was the first time lost by six goals since a 6-0 league defeat to Espanyol in 1951.
De Jong recalled that dismal loss when discussing reaching 200 appearances for Barca. He said (via BarcaUniversal):
"The worst was the day against Bayern in the Champions League and the best was winning La Liga last year."
Barcelona ended a four-year wait for the La Liga title last season. They did so with 28 wins in 38 league games and De Jong played a key role at the heart of Xavi's midfield.
De Jong made 33 league appearances, scoring two goals and providing four assists. His consistent performances came after a summer dominated by speculation that he could be headed to Manchester United.
Barcelona legend Lionel Messi was accused of 'giving up' during their heavy defeat to Bayern Munich
Lionel Messi played the full 90 minutes of Barcelona's 8-2 loss to Bayern in the 2019-20 campaign. The Argentine icon wore a face of devastation as the Bundesliga giants tore his beloved Blaugrana apart.
It was Barca's heaviest defeat since 1943 and Messi got much of the blame for his former side's humiliation. Steve McManaman was one of those who criticized the former Catalan giants' captain on the night.
The former Real Madrid star felt that the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner 'gave up' during the loss (via Metro):
"He he has to work harder, especially on nights like this when they are getting absolutely battered. He just gave in before, Alaba just ran off him he never even wanted, he only had to run five yards, and he never wanted to run at all."
The Inter Miami superstar spent one more year at Camp Nou before departing. The La Liga giants were unable to afford a new contract for their legendary forward. He joined Ligue 1 giants Paris Saint-Germain but insisted he never wanted to leave Barcelona.