It is the eternal dilemma of a fanatic supporter. Would you rather see your club lose if that reduces the chance of the arch-rival becoming champion?
Along the line polls that position on NPO Radio 1 among Feyenoord fans on Sunday afternoon, prior to the top match against PSV. There are supporters who avoid the name of the rival in their answer, who use the beginning of the metropolitan area code for that and who are happy to see the three points go to PSV this Sunday. Even if the result of that other top match, between AZ and Ajax, is not yet known.
And there are supporters that Feyenoord coach Arne Slot hopes for. Those are the ones who will do everything in their power this Sunday to shout his team to victory. Slot had emphatically asked for this, shortly after the semi-final against Olympique Marseille last Thursday in the Conference League, in which Feyenoord qualified for the final.
Feyenoord-PSV is a crucial duel in the battle for the title in the Eredivisie on Sunday afternoon at a quarter to five. Even more after the 2-2 draw between AZ and Ajax, the game that started at 2.30 pm. The starting time was adjusted after a request from Slot in the media, in which he openly asked the KNVB to move the game with PSV. With a physical advantage for Feyenoord after the battle in Marseille and for PSV, in this case, a mental boost.
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The moment the players of the club from Eindhoven walk to the catacombs of the Kuip after their warm-up, they know that Ajax has lost two points in Alkmaar. A win over Feyenoord and the tension in the competition is completely back. Just before that, a goal from AZ in de Kuip was already received with cheers – not just by the branch.
Intensity
It is as if the Feyenoord players want to convince their own fans of the attitude this afternoon in the first minutes. Press forward, immediately disrupt the game of PSV. But the intensity that goes with it turns out to be short-lived.
Minute fifteen. Midfielder Orkun Kökçü, one of the strongholds at Feyenoord this season, let a ball slip under his foot, to the chagrin of De Kuip. A few seconds later he again loses the ball – de Kuip even more disgruntled. And rightly so, because five seconds later, thanks to PSV captain Cody Gakpo, the ball is behind goalkeeper Marciano.
In a match that can bring back the tension for the championship, PSV don’t even have to make an excessive effort in the first half to be the parent. Loss of ball on the Rotterdam side gives the team of coach Roger Schmidt, who is departing at the end of this season, the opportunity to set up an attack, something that works well. Within half an hour, a one-two between Gakpo and striker Eran Zahavi split the Feyenoord defense: 0-2.
The Rotterdam public falls silent. For a moment it is like being stung by a wasp, when the box with PSV supporters seems to have taken over control of the sound in the Kuip. “Final, final”, it sounds en masse. Proof that the Conference League is the first goal for Feyenoord fans.
Before the match, Pierre van Hooijdonk, who is present in De Kuip, among other things, because it has been exactly twenty years since he won the UEFA cup with Feyenoord, is asked about his prediction. “I can only say one thing: Tirana,” says the former striker, providing the last word with a melody. The European final against AS Roma will be played in the Albanian capital later this month. The audience follows like a well-orchestrated choir.
hard core
Trainer Slot intervenes hard during the break. Midfielders Kökçü and Guus Til, and attacker Reiss Nelson remain behind in the dressing room. Tired after Thursday night’s game? Perhaps, but Slot above all demands more from his team. Feyenoord starts fresher in the second half, it is a minimal stimulus for the hard core. As is possible in Rotterdam, they will carefully get behind their team more and more – some of them will win anyway on this sunny Sunday.
PSV seems to feel assured of the win, and renewed tension in the Eredivisie. Rightly so, because a connecting goal is not in it for a long time. Slot also seems to resign. Twenty minutes before the end, he even removes his regular central defenders Gernot Trauner and Marcos Senesi from the field, rest is now more important.
Fifteen minutes later, the Kuip springs up as a crowd favorite and striker Cyriel Dessers heads the ball behind PSV goalkeeper Yvon Mvogo. Faith is back, as if De Kuip already knows what’s coming. The denouement follows in the form of a questionable penalty kick, in injury time, when the ball is shot from a few meters onto the elbow of PSV defender Mauro Junior who is turning away.
“It was never a penalty”, PSV coach Schmidt would say agitated afterwards. “Eighteen teams are fighting for the title. But the referee seems to be able to decide who will be champion.” With two games to go, the difference with Ajax remains four points.
Dessers used the penalty and shortly afterwards wonders in front of the cameras of sports channel ESPN whether all Feyenoord fans will be happy with that. But he himself has done his sporting duty.
“I can understand the frustration of the opponent,” says Feyenoord coach Slot. “But you would be failing us to hang everything on that. We played well in the second half. I always had the feeling that if we made it 1-2, everything would be possible again. That was also the case, especially when De Kuip stood behind it again.”