Leading with fire: Barcelona skipper’s fierce display sets tone in El Clasico battle — Opinion | OneFootball

Beating Real Madrid is always a prestigious moment for FC Barcelona, but doing it four times in a single season (five if you count pre-season) elevates it to something truly special. El Clásico stands among the fiercest rivalries in world football, and this year, Hansi Flick’s Barcelona have owned it.

Coming into the Montjuïc showdown with a psychological edge and a four-point lead in La Liga, Barcelona knew a win would all but seal the title. Despite an early two-goal deficit, they delivered a comeback worthy of champions, turning 0-2 into 4-2 before the break.

One player for Barcelona who looked switched on from minute 1 and seemed determined to make his side win was Frenkie de Jong. Wearing the captain’s armband, the Dutchman hardly put a foot wrong in the entire game, and it was a performance that would go a long way in endearing himself to the Barcelona fans.

Turning criticism into admiration

Frenkie’s tale of redemption at Barcelona this season has been nothing short of remarkable. He missed the entire first half of the season with an ankle injury and when he returned towards the fag end of 2024, he looked a pale shadow of the player everyone knew that he could be.

The Dutchman made mistake after mistake, earning the wrath of Barcelona fans, and it did not help that there seemed to be no progress on his contractual front. Marc Casado enjoyed a brilliant first half of the campaign in the pivot position, and it increasingly looked like Frenkie’s time at Barcelona was done.

However, since the start of 2025, Frenkie has roared back. Having rediscovered the confidence that had deserted him post the ankle injury, the ex-Ajax star quickly overtook Casado in the pecking order and hasn’t looked back since, emerging as one of Hansi Flick’s first names on the team sheet.

Frenkie, the captain!

Frenkie had a sublime display against Real Madrid. (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images)

Frenkie had a brilliant display against Real Madrid. He was instrumental in stopping so many counter-attacks at source and managed to keep both Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Jr. in check with his smart positioning and improved duelling abilities.

As per stats from Sofascore, Frenkie had 83 touches of the ball, completing 67 of his 72 attempted passes with an impressive accuracy of 93%. He won 4 out of the 7 ground duels that he attempted on the night and won 2 out of three aerial duels.

The Dutchman also made 1 block, two interceptions, and 4 tackles, highlighting the defensive improvement in his game. As a player, he was very good, but it was the captain in him that really caught the eye against Real Madrid.

Wearing the armband, Frenkie looks passionate and driven and shows the kind of fire that has often been missing from his game in the past. In many ways, it was his fiery display as a captain that set the tone in last night’s El Clasico battle and was pivotal in Flick’s men coming back from behind.

Frenkie, the captain, stood out against Real Madrid. (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images)

Frenkie de Jong was very vocal, marshalling his troops and standing up for his teammates with the referee every single time. He was, like most people were, displeased with the referee’s decisions, and it reflected in the way he spoke with the referee to fight wherever he felt his team was wronged.

Barcelona fans have waited a long time to see this side of Frenkie. Whatever switch Hansi Flick has flipped, it’s working, and if this is the version of De Jong we can expect going forward, the future in Blaugrana looks all the brighter.