Mbappé Tackle: De Jong’s Ruthless Play Exposed

• Jesse Wieten

  football editor

This was not a stylish move in the spirit of Johan Cruijff. This was a tough tackle à la ‘Johan Segundo’ Neeskens. Frenkie de Jong (also) showed his ruthless face in the final of the Spanish Super Cup last week.

In the last minute of El Clasico, Barça captain De Jong, with his leg raised and studs, slid forward into Real substitute Kylian Mbappé. The Frenchman was hit just below the knee and went rolling to the ground.

Referee Jose Luís Munuera Montero immediately showed the red card, De Jong did not agree with it, he showed in words and gestures. A few minutes later he was still able to cheer. What did it matter, the cup was for De Jong and Barcelona. Everything for the win.

With his third Spanish Super Cup (22/23, 24/25, 25/26), two Spanish Cups (20/21, 24/25) and two national titles (22/23, 24/25), his trophy cabinet is starting to fill up nicely in his seventh season at Barça.

It wasn’t just any tackle, it was a tackle on perhaps the best player in the world, just back from a knee injury. Moreover, an opponent with whom De Jong has a past.

On September 9, 2018, De Jong was in the starting line-up for the Dutch national team for the first time against the newly crowned world champions France. The Dutch lost, Mbappé scored, but De Jong left an excellent impression, also on Mbappé.

The two opponents exchanged shirts afterwards and it was not without reason that the then French teenage star asked the Dutchman to come from Ajax to Paris Saint-Germain.

“I had a word with him because he can mean a lot to us,” Mbappé said. “He is welcome in Paris.” It almost got that far, but when dream club Barcelona showed up, De Jong went to Catalonia.

Mbappé later moved to his dream club, Real Madrid, and the two met for the eleventh time in Sunday’s Clásico. De Jong won for the sixth time, Mbappé won four times.

Friendly ties don’t count in a heated battle at the top. Dean Huijsen got into a fight with his Spanish buddy Lamine Yamal in Jeddah and there are plenty of other examples in the more distant past.

Think of the 1998 Champions League final between Real Madrid and Juventus in Amsterdam. Friends Clarence Seedorf and Edgar Davids almost kicked each other out of the match and both escaped red. Or think of Ronald Koeman, who, as a player for Ajax, committed an attack on his brother Erwin of FC Groningen.

Mbappé suffered no physical damage from De Jong’s kick, but the Frenchman was so upset afterwards that he called for a ban from the guard of honor for Barcelona. No friends with Frenkie de Jong for the time being.

Despite the kick, there was great praise for De Jong in the Spanish media. According to Sport, De Jong “gave a masterclass with Pedri” and according to Mundo Deportivo, De Jong played “one of his best games ever”.

De Jong dictated the rhythm of the match and was crucial in the build-up. His numbers: 100 ball contacts, 84 of his 89 passes were successful, a passing accuracy of 94 percent. Not even special numbers for him.

The praise continued. Sport wrote: “De Jong took a step forward in the areas where he is most expected: dominating on the field and showing leadership.”

“De Jong, finally a captain,” said AS. “He is often accused of being too soft, his character is under discussion. But after this Super Cup he is stronger than before. He showed that he can be a leader.”

He was forgiven for going over the line in the final minute with the tackle on Mbappé. In fact, that made him even more powerful. The brutal tackle on Mbappé as a symbol of ruthlessness.

Expectations were high when he arrived at his dream club six and a half years ago as the best midfielder of the 2018/2019 Champions League. He was not always able to achieve this.

On the way to the status of club hero, as predecessors Cruijff and Neeskens are, a little more was needed than that clean game. What? Perhaps exactly what De Jong showed in the Super Cup final.