Mourinho full of praise for Barcelona target Matthijs de Ligt
The Portuguese coach was impressed by the teenager two years ago
Jose Mourinho, talking to RT Sport, placed the performance of Matthijs de Ligt ahead of the rest of his Ajax teammates as the Dutch side beat Juventus in Turin on Tuesday to make the Champions League semifinals.
"We played against De Ligt two years ago [with Manchester United in the Europa League final] and he already seemed like a 26-year-old, much more experienced than he was," Mourinho said.
"Physically he is very strong. Now, two years later, he is genuinely a fantastic football player."
De Ligt is a Barcelona target. The club are hopeful that they will complete a deal to sign him this summer having already signed his Ajax teammate Frenkie de Jong.
For Mourinho, Juventus erred in their planning for their match against Ajax: "Juve were another team that allowed Ajax to play to their strengths. They let them play with the quality they have, fantastic young players with a little experience which they didn't have when they played in the Europa League."
He feels as United manager, when they beat Ajax in 2017, he got his tactics spot on: "We didn't let them play the game they wanted to play. They complained about Fellaini, about high pressure, about playing physically.
"They complained because they couldn't deal with it. But if you play against Ajax in the way they want, you run the risk of them being the better side."
