Matthijs de Ligt: ‘The dirty work is so important. I find it really nice’

Matthijs de Ligt was not happy. The Juventus defender had, by common consent, been one of the best players on the pitch against Villarreal in their Champions League last- 16 game. His recent form had been outstanding. A 1-1 draw put Juventus in a strong position ahead of Wednesday’s second leg. But as he left the field, De Ligt was still thinking about the Villarreal goal. Replaying the cross from Étienne Capoue, the run from Dani Parejo, the decision to step up instead of hold the line. Furious with himself.

He’s still thinking about it almost a month later, which gives you an idea of the Dutchman’s mindset. “I always want to be the most critical about myself,” he says over a virtual call from Turin. “I know exactly when I did something wrong. To grow, sometimes you have to accept you made the wrong decisions. And yeah, in that situation I could have done better.”

The pursuit of perfection is what drives De Ligt. At Juventus he has been a colleague and understudy to Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci. Virgil van Dijk is his centre-back partner with the national team. From an early age many observers have suggested that De Ligt may one day be their equal. But the standards at the sharp end of the game keep rising.

Defending at the top level is perhaps harder than it has ever been. “Before, you had different types,” De Ligt explains. “You had the ones who were just in the box, heading balls away, but couldn’t play. And you had defenders who were really good with the ball but couldn’t defend. The trend now is that all defenders are quite complete. They’re all fast, they’re all strong, they can play with the ball. The level is different.”

De Ligt could always play. He was originally a midfielder in the Ajax youth teams,