Donny van de Beek struggled to settle at Manchester United but he is returning to top form at Girona.
Signed under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in 2020, Manchester United fans were excited by the arrival of Donny van de Beek following his impressive breakthrough at Ajax.
However, the Dutch midfielder spent four years at Old Trafford and only made 62 appearances. His time in England was plagued by injuries, but often he was just overlooked.
Van de Beek lost his confidence under Erik ten Hag due to a lack of game time, despite starring in his Ajax side.
After a loan spell at Eintracht Frankfurt, Van de Beek joined Girona last summer and he has made a strong start in Spain.
Van de Beek impressed in the Champions League and has become a key player at Girona. His latest test was up against La Liga champions Real Madrid.
How Donny van de Beek fared against Real Madrid
In the reverse fixture, Van de Beek struggled against Real Madrid with the Spanish champions cruising to a 3-0 victory.
At the Bernabeu on Sunday afternoon, Girona suffered a 2-0 defeat, but Van de Beek stood out in midfield.
As per SofaScore, Van de Beek earned the highest rating (7.1) of any Girona player in action.
He started as an attacking midfielder in a 3-4-1-2 formation not too dissimilar to the formation used by Ruben Amorim at Manchester United.
Here is a collection of Van de Beek’s match stats against Real Madrid:
| Minutes played | 56 |
| Touches | 18 |
| Shots attempted | 1 |
| Passes completed | 100% (11/11) |
| Key passes | 1 |
| Dribbles completed | 100% (1/1) |
| Duels won | 60% (3/5) |
Donny van de Beek’s season at Girona so far
Van de Beek made his 29th appearance of the season on Sunday to face Real Madrid – the only time he topped that figure as a United player was when he made 36 appearances in the 2020/21 campaign.
The 27-year-old has already scored three goals this season, topping his goal tally in Manchester.
Girona manager Michel has openly praised Van de Beek for his start in Spain, and he already looks much more settled than he ever did in England.
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There has been a worrying trend of United players improving after they leave, and it seems Van de Beek could soon add his name to that list.
Antony has impressed on loan at Real Betis, Anthony Martial is thriving in Greece and Marcus Rashford has made a strong start at Aston Villa.
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