‘He has to be in the starting line-up for the Dutch team. First it was Jerommeke, now he drives you crazy’

Rafael van der Vaart and Ronald de Boer are very pleased with Matthijs de Ligt’s performance in the semi-final of the Champions League. With Bayern Munich, the Dutch defender will take on Real Madrid and, according to the analysts of Ziggo Sports he is perfectly capable of taking out the world stars.

“He plays well, he was very good a few times,” concludes Van der Vaart. “I think he should play in the Dutch national team because he can take out those very big players. He is fast, agile and has a good tackle. You see how fit he is. You’ll go crazy when you’re up against him.”

De Boer agrees with his colleague. “I feel like he’s less muscular. Normally it was Jerommeke and he could hardly turn. He looked like Sule from Dortmund, but now you can see that he is fit,” said the analyst.

Before the match, analysts were also full of praise for the centre-back. “By the way, I think that if De Ligt gets through these matches well, he is simply the very best next to Virgil van Dijk. It doesn’t matter what kind of formation, just play,” said Van der Vaart.

De Boer recognizes himself in Van der Vaart’s words. “I think he’s a great guy. Together with Eric Dier. Kim Min-Jae is no pancake of course, but De Ligt is slightly better in my opinion. Faster, and can also head better, so he is better in standard situations.”