Why De Jong is Milan’s key to destroying Barca’s Tiki-Taka
Nigel De Jong
Milan will host Barcelona at the San Siro this evening for the European giants’ seventh Champions League meeting in the last three seasons, the famed Italian outfit looking to emerge victorious against the Catalans for just the second time in those fixtures.
The Rossoneri head into the contest amidst domestic struggles and defensive woes. And as if Massimiliano Allegri’s charges weren’t sick enough of seeing the Blaugrana in continental action to begin with, their frailties at the back will come up against the La Liga leaders at a time in which Tata Martino’s side lead Europe’s top five leagues in goals scored domestically with 28.
Milan’s greatest hope of coming away with a positive result in turn lies in the form of Nigel de Jong, who will be charged with breaking up Barcelona’s typically hypnotic build-up play and sparking the counter.
The Dutchman has been the San Siro outfit’s top man thus far in the continental action, registering a team-high Performance Score of 95 through two matches and coming away with a brace of Squawka ‘Best’ Awards to boot.
He currently leads the Champions League in interceptions with 13 and has made a total of 17 defensive actions, a figure good for fifth amongst midfielders, demonstrating his high level of proficiency at disrupting opposition forward moves, a task that will be as essential as ever when Los Cules make the trip to northern Italy on Tuesday.
Slightly disappointing has been de Jong’s tackling to date in Europe, as was successful in only half of his eight attempted tackles against Celtic and Ajax, but his figure of 17 tackles in 21 tries in Serie A suggests that he well has the potential to perform at a higher level in this regard.
In terms of turning defence into attack, the former Manchester City man certainly excels, as he has completed 97% of his passes in the Champions League, indeed amazingly misplacing only a total of three balls out of a total 112 attempted, whilst playing 61% of his passes forward in a testament to his eye for sparking forays into the offensive third.
Barcelona will no doubt be alert to Milan’s troubles defensively in the Italian top flight, in which the Rossoneri have conceded 13 goals en route to picking up just 11 points in their first eight games, and are likely to be extra aggressive from the outset in an attempt to panic Allegri’s men despite their status as the home side.
The San Siro outfit struggled to control the game against inferior sides in Celtic and Ajax with just 53% and 44% possession respectively on the previous two Champions League matchdays, and as a result should sit back and seek to absorb pressure in taking on a side as adept in retaining the ball as Barcelona, looking to not leave the rearguard exposed whilst reducing the need to attack against massed defenders.
De Jong is the central cog that will determine Milan’s degree of success in such a strategy, what with his ability to close off opponents’ passing lanes as a result of his reading of the game and knack for accurate distribution up the pitch into advanced positions.
And should Milan be able to pull off a positive result under duress against the Catalan giants at the San Siro, as they did last season in dispatching the reigning La Liga champions 2-0 in the round of 16, the Dutch veteran will without question be the man at the centre of the triumph due to his tailor-made skill set for the occasion.