The national championship is practical for PSV Einhoven and FC Arsenal, both are already outside in the cup. The Champions League is therefore its last hope of saving the season-on Tuesday (04.03.2025, 9 p.m., live ticker at Sportschau.de) the round of 16 of the two disappointed clubs in Eindhoven is increasing.
For Eindhoven, the no-name kickers of the Go Ahead Eagles have become a stop sign twice, within just four days. On February 26, PSV had the underdog in the semi-finals of the National KNVB Cup, in the end it was 70:30 percent possession, 24: 9 goal shots, a pass rate of 85 percent compared to 65 percent with the team from Deventer. However, this absolutely oppressive superiority was only enough for a penalty goal by Ivan Perisic, while the Eagles used two defensive errors from Eindhoven to win 2-1.
On March 1st, the eredivisia came to see you directly. This time Eindhoven scored two goals away, but that wasn’t enough either: Go Ahead turned a 1-2 deficit in the 87th minute into a 3-2 victory, which probably also destroyed the last championship hope of Peter Bosz’s team. There had been no learning effect from the cup game at the BOSZ team, again Eindhoven had made continuous pressure forward, showed courage and great commitment – but left many opportunities and in the end the defensive neglected.
No defending and no plan B
This may be a snapshot, but it is also the facts that are known from the time of this coach in Dortmund (July to December 2017) and Leverkusen (2018 to March 2021). And have always caught up with Bosz in his career. In principle, it is great fun to look at the games of his teams, hardly a top coach in Europe can spark such a spectacle, act so enthusiastically-Eindhoven has therefore earned completely in the KO games against Juventus Turin.
But that with defending and above all with Plan B was never his thing and it has apparently not become: within just one month, the league leadership in the Eredivisie has become a gap of eight points to Ajax Amsterdam – in the past four games there was no three more. Back then, both in Dortmund and in Leverkusen, it was the case that those responsible would have liked to keep him even longer, but he was not ready to make adjustments to his playing style and ran into ruin.
Areta only won an important title
So while at Bosz you know very well what you get involved with him, Mikel Areteta still has the expectation that he will develop further and that he is still the plus of motivation art against weaker teams that make him a title trainer. He has been on the bench with the Gunners since 2019, and under it there was always a very well-kept football, but not very much to celebrate: a FA-Cup title from 2020 is booked, and two victories in the English Supercup are also available.
In the current season there was the third-round round off against Manchester United for Arsenal in the traditionally very important FA Cup (the Gunners are 14 titles in this competition of the record champion). In the Premier League, the first half of the season was still dreaming of being able to take advantage of Manchester City’s big weakness, but a 0: 1 against West Ham on February 22nd and a 0-0 four days later at Nottingham Forest have destroyed the championship: In the meantime, the deficit to Liverpool is less than 13 points in one game.
Treaty is only prolonged at 2027
Areta still sits rock -resistant in the saddle, and an end against PSV would not change anything. It was only on September 12 that his contract was extended prematurely until 2027, the club bosses praised him as “Dynamic and passionate trainer who relentlessly after top performance” strut. He had “A deep understanding of the values of Arsenal and the team brought to a new level”.
Bosz argues with a journalist
For Bosz, on the other hand, it would be even more uncomfortable than it is already after the two disappointments against the Go Ahead Eagles. After the latest league bankruptcy, Bosz even fought a heated word battle with a journalist who asked him for the many defense patrons in the press conference, “To come up with something to change it instead of just saying that it has to get better.”
Bosz angrily countered that there was no guarantee, “To be successful with an eleven man behind the ball and not to collect goals” And argued that his team was the better team with beautiful offensive football for 75 minutes. He finally referred to the reports of the reporter as “Nonsense”and you can be pretty sure that he will not change his approach in the Champions League against Arsenal in any way.