Ajax were eliminated from the Europa League at the hands of Getafe on Thursday evening, and it has emerged how Jose Bordalas motivated his players in the Dutch capital.
Frenkie de Jong was a key member of the Ajax side that stunned Europe in 2018/19 by coming without around five seconds of the Champions League final, yet he was hypercritical of Bordalas in the build-up to the tie between Getafe and his former club.
"Getafe don't play football to entertain the fans," De Jong declared.
"I find it annoying to watch their games."
Now, whilst this could be considered throwaway comments made by someone with an affiliation with the Dutch club, Bordalas took personal offence and used it as motivation ahead of the second leg.
On the walls of the dressing room, Bordalas plastered De Jong's comments and used them to spur his players on and progress through to the next round, which they did with a 3-2 aggregate win, setting up a tie with Antonio Conte's Inter.
Source: m.allfootballapp.com