Frenkie de Jong returned to action for FC Barcelona on Saturday, helping them dominate the city derby against Espanyol 4-1. The Dutch midfielder came on with obvious relish and took only a few minutes to provide an assist. Ziggo Sport analyst Ronald de Boer was impressed by his performance.
Barcelona enjoyed a trouble-free first half and went into the break 2-0 up. After the interval, however, their focus appeared to drift toward the forthcoming Champions League return leg against Atlético Madrid.
Espanyol capitalised on a defensive lapse from a throw-in to equalise and briefly threatened a comeback, yet Barça, boosted by De Jong’s 84th-minute reappearance, ultimately prevailed 4-1.
“The final ten minutes were lively once Frenkie entered the fray,” De Boer noted. “He injected energy and immediately showed his leadership.”
“It was a bit of a nail-biter for a while. If you look at that 2-1 from Espanyol, Barcelona were really caught napping there. The spaces they gave away... Unbelievable.”
"Just look at that," De Boer says, reviewing the 2-1 goal. "No one marking him, all the time in the world, completely on his own. That’s not good enough; you can’t afford to concede like that."
“It changed when Frenkie came on. He started driving forward, making deep runs even without the ball, and you saw that with the goal too, of course. Here he goes deep, and you hardly ever see Frenkie making those runs in the front line.”
De Jong dribbled past goalkeeper Marko Dmitrovic, paused momentarily, then slipped a pass to Rashford, who finished it off brilliantly. “Frenkie was searching for a finisher. He initially thought,‘I’ll give it to Yamal,’ but the ball ran slightly behind Rashford. Nevertheless, he buried it,” explained De Boer.
De Jong’s return is timely for both Barcelona, who are challenging for LaLiga and the Champions League, and the Dutch national team. The 2026 World Cup begins in roughly two months, and the midfielder missed the last international break because of a hamstring injury.