The media will talk all about ‘MSG’, Barcelona’s new attacking trident that finally clicked after Griezmann, Suarez and Messi all linked up brilliantly to each get a goal apiece at Ipurua, but the real credit should be given to the man directly behind them in the midfield: Frenkie de Jong.
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The Dutchman was phenomenal from start to finish and once again proved he was worth every penny. Head coach Ernesto Valverde set him up in the center alongside Arthur Melo and Sergio Busquets, who acted as a holding midfielder, and throughout his 79 minutes of play, he successfully completed 45 out of his 50 attempted passes (40% of those passes were sent forward up the pitch), in addition, he set up two clear chances, and won four out of seven duels: a total midfielder.