Barca told me to knock out Madrid, Ajax midfielder De Jong reveals

Dutch midfielder Frenkie de Jong has revealed his future club Barcelona urged him and his Ajax Amsterdam teammates to knock the Catalans' historic rivals Real Madrid out of the Champions League ahead of Tuesday's last-16 second leg.

Real Madrid's Croatian midfielder Luka Modric (L) challenges Ajax's Dutch midfielder Frenkie de Jong. Source: AFP

The Netherlands international, 21, has agreed to join La Liga champions Barcelona next season, completing a transfer in January for an initial fee of 75 million euros (A$120 million).

But on Tuesday his focus was solely on Ajax's trip to the Santiago Bernabeu and attempting to overhaul a 2-1 deficit from the first leg against Real, who have monopolised the trophy since 2016.

"I spoke to them when I signed the contract and they told me to try to knock out Real Madrid, as that would be great for Barca too," De Jong told Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf.

Ajax's went into the the match with the daunting task of turning the tie around and they did so in the most convincing fashion absolutely humiliating the reigning champions Real 4-1 to win 5-3 on aggregate.

De Jong looked to have taken his future club's request seriously showing them just what they can expect when he joins them in June.

He was instrumental in the victory outshining Real skipper and current Ballon d'Or holder Luka Modcric as Ajax caused the one of the biggest upsets in Champions League history.

He made 54 passes with 91 per cent accuracy, he won eight of 11 duels and recovered the ball six times.