At Ajax, a lot revolved around the top matches in the Champions League, according to De Ligt. At Bayern Munich he has to work hard every week. This is a big difference compared to what De Ligt was used to in Amsterdam.
De Ligt: “In the top competitions, every match is a kind of Champions League duel”
De Ligt earned a top transfer to Juventus at Ajax and is now indispensable from Bayern’s starting eleven. Whether he has passed abroad as one of the few former Ajax players? “Successful is a very difficult and flexible concept to me anyway. What succeeded?,” De Ligt wondered. “Andre Onana is now the basic goalkeeper at Inter, a finalist in the Champions League, Frenkie de Jong champion with Barcelona, Hakim Ziyech won the Champions League with Chelsea, Noussair Mazraoui has been playing a lot and well lately. Just to name a few,” says De Ligt.
“But the strength of that Ajax was that everything was right and that all our qualities came to the surface. Erik ten Hag has put that down at Ajax. A certain structure and a system that allowed us all to excel. After that we all joined a new club, in a better league, where more is demanded of you because the resistance is high every game,” continues the defender.
“You could sometimes slow down and still dominate and win”
At Ajax, a lot revolved around the Champions League matches, as De Ligt found out. “In the competition you could sometimes slow down and still dominate and win dominantly. In the top leagues, every match is a kind of Champions League duel. So more is being asked of you, mentally and physically. That is often the most difficult factor, I have experienced it myself. At Ajax you also have a basic team, with a few guys who are close behind, but at the larger clubs in Europe there are just 25 players who are so good that they can be starting lineup players. Then it just comes down to being so strong that you enforce it yourself. That is mainly a mental battle,” he concluded.
