PSV Eindhoven has won the Dutch championship.
On Sunday, PSV Eindhoven won the Dutch championship for the 25th time. This is the team’s first championship since 2018, a season also marked by rival Ajax’s collapse.
In a celebratory atmosphere at the bright Philips Stadion, Peter Bosz’s team defeated Sparta Rotterdam 4-2 to ensure they would win the Eredivisie trophy with two games remaining.
This meant that PSV, celebrating in front of their ecstatic supporters at the final whistle, could no longer reach second-place Feyenoord.
It has been a season to remember for the Eindhoven team, which has had Brazilian players Romario and Ronaldo on its shirt in addition to Dutch greats Mark van Bommel and Arjen Robben.
After going 17 games without conceding a point in the Eredivisie, they eventually lost their perfect record on matchday 27, falling 3-1 away to NEC Nijmegen.
A 5-2 success over Ajax at home and a crucial 2-1 triumph away at Feyenoord’s formidable De Kuip stadium, which put PSV on the winning track, were especially delicious.
The form of PSV’s seasoned Dutch striker Luuk de Jong, who has 27 goals to his name and is tied for the league lead in scoring, has been essential to their success this season.
This club still has a ways to go before they can match the illustrious Guus Hiddink-led squad from 1987–1988 that won the European Cup final on penalties and swept everything before them.
The Eredivisie trophy, however, will ease the frustrations of past seasons in which PSV finished second three times in a row, watching Ajax or Feyenoord win the championship.
Along with their success in Europe, PSV also had success in the Champions League. They finished second in a group that contained Arsenal, Sevilla, and Lens before losing to Borussia Dortmund in the round of sixteen.
Ajax’s horror season
It is unfortunate for Feyenoord that they will be playing PSV this season; the Rotterdam team has only lost twice in the premier league.
The supporters of De Kuip will be content with second place and a Dutch Cup victory, but they will lose their coach when Arne Slot leaves to take Jurgen Klopp’s place at Liverpool.
Johan Cruyff would be spinning in his grave after a season like this, but Ajax supporters would settle for anything.
The four-time European Cup winners, who are currently nine points behind AZ Alkmaar in fifth place, don’t seem likely to make it to any European football competitions next season.
PSV’s October 5-2 victory over Ajax was extra sweet for the Eindhoven team because it momentarily consigned their enduring rivals to an unprecedented Eredivisie bottom place.
Following Historic Low Ajax—a team that boasts Dennis Bergkamp, Marco Van Basten, and Cruyff among its alumni—Historic Low crashed out of the Dutch club and joined the amateur club Hercules.
The Amsterdam club’s lowest point occurred in early April when they were humiliated in De Kuip, losing 6-0 against Feyenoord in the Dutch “Klassieker.”
Chaos in the boardroom and violence in the stands are the result of on-field frustrations.
Alex Kroes, the CEO and chairman, was suspended due to possible insider trading, but he later resumed his role as technical director after a few weeks.
It was revealed a few days following Kroes’ suspension that club chairman Michael van Praag, who had publicly chastised the player, had “forgotten” to disclose his personal ownership stake in the team to the appropriate authorities.
Vitesse Arnhem received an 18-point punishment from the Dutch federation, which resulted in their first-ever relegation after 35 seasons.
As a result of their suspension for violating the league’s licensing rules, they are now on two points.
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PSV Eindhoven has won the Dutch championship