De Jong: The Clasico I enjoyed the most was the 5-0 at Camp Nou El Clasico Set for his first on Wednesday

Ernesto Valverde rarely starts a match without Frenkie de Jong at the heart of his midfield, and Wednesday's Clasico will be no different, and the Dutchman is excited to finally make his first appearance in this derby.

Having established himself as a key figure at the Camp Nou this term, De Jong will be looking to help Los Cules reassert dominance in the LaLiga Santander title race.

"I'm very excited about the Clasico, the one I enjoyed most was the 5-0 at the Camp Nou," De Jong explained.

"It's my first Clasico, and it's a very special game.

"Last year, I played Real Madrid with Ajax and it was important, but this is another matter and I'm on another team."

Barcelona fans knew De Jong would be signing for the club back in January, so they took additional delight in the maestro-like performance he put in against Los Merengues en-route to dumping the holders out of the Champions League.

"It was a very special night for us, in fact I would say that we played our best football at the Bernabeu," he intimated.

"It was a surprise for everyone who was watching the game.

"The 1-4 in their stadium, eliminating them and playing such good football, I have hugely fond memories of that match."

The political climate around Wednesday's Clasico has proved to be an unwanted sideshow for those involved on the technical side of the match, yet De Jong has experience playing in the flagship derby of Dutch football, Ajax vs Feyenoord, where the atmosphere is always at a dangerous level.

"In Holland we have a Clasico, it's Ajax and Feyenoord," he confirmed.

"It has less worldly impact than the one here, but everyone in Holland talks about it.

"The atmosphere is different from other matches, you can feel the tension inside the stadium, these are the kind of fixtures which players love to be involved in."