Matthijs de Ligt is delighted that he finally played a full ninety minutes against FSV Mainz 05. The center-back for Bayern Munich admitted that his performance wasn't flawless yet, but he anticipates that his level will improve rapidly with more playing time.
It had been a while since De Ligt last played a full ninety minutes for his club. In the first few months of the new season, he had not gone beyond a maximum of one half in a game.
That changed on Saturday against Mainz (1-3). Relief was evident in the words of the former Ajax player after the match. 'It's good to have played ninety minutes again. It wasn't easy. Not long ago, I had trouble walking, and now I can play again. I've just recovered, and in the period before the injury, I played very little,' De Ligt told Kicker.
The 24-year-old defender didn't think he played flawlessly. He immediately admitted his mistake in the 27th-minute foul, which earned De Ligt a yellow card. 'If I have rhythm, that doesn't happen to me. I would have intercepted the ball. This time, I was slightly late. But I'm sure that I'll regain my rhythm after a series of matches,' he explained.
De Ligt will be in the starting lineup again on Tuesday. Bayern will play away in the Champions League against Galatasaray. After the win against Mainz, Thomas Tuchel already stated that De Ligt and Min-jae Kim will form the central defensive pair. As for whether De Ligt is ready to play in four days, he will have to be, as Tuchel mentioned, 'We have few other options because Upamecano is still injured.' The partnership with Kim, by the way, worked out excellently for De Ligt: 'The more we play together, the better it gets.'
