Dutch football celebrated two remarkable Champions League upsets this week that put Feyenoord and PSV Eindhoven on the path to the final stages of Europe’s elite competition.
On Tuesday, Feyenoord came from 3-0 down with 16 minutes remaining at Manchester City to take a point in a 3-3 draw, taking advantage of a sudden drop for the English champions.
PSV did better on Wednesday when they lost 2-0 at home to 10-man Shakhtar Donetsk, but Malik Tillman scored twice in the last three minutes of regular time and US striker Ricardo Pepi scored the winning goal in stoppage time, making it 3-2.
PSV coach Peter Bosz would have been satisfied with a draw to maintain their two-year unbeaten run at the Philips Stadion.
“But the fact that we ended up winning is bizarre“, he added.
“We started the game dramatically, right from the kick-off“, these.
PSV were two goals down at half-time, but the sending off of Shakhtar left-back Pedro Henrique for a dangerous foul in the 69th minute gave PSV the impetus to increase the pressure.
“The second half was better, I think we were more aggressive, we won more duels… But the goal didn’t appear and it became increasingly difficult. Until the red card”, Bosz added.
“If I’m completely honest, I don’t think we would have won with 11 against 11”assumed.
Feyenoord makes history
Feyenoord made history last night as no Champions League club had managed to come back from at least a three-goal deficit in the 70th minute, let alone the 75th.
“I thought, ‘This is going to be a long night,'” said Feyenoord coach Brian Priske
“To be honest, I didn’t do much to change things in tactical terms, it was the guys who changed the image of the game. They did the hard work, they kept believing and insisting and that’s the most important thing, having players on the field who take on the responsibility”he explained.
After five of eight group stage games, Feyenoord (seven points) and PSV (eight) are in the top 24 in the new 36-team standings.
Teams will likely need 14 to 16 points to finish in the top eight to qualify for the round of 16 and nine to 10 points to make the playoffs.
Feyenoord have high hopes of progressing as they have a home game against Sparta Prague on December 11 before hosting Bayern Munich and visiting Lille in January.
PSV is also confident in its progression, as it travels to Brest, in France, on December 10, before visiting Red Star. The last game of the group stage is at home, against Liverpool, the current Champions League leaders, at the end of January.
