What Ajax gave them with a four-game winless streak, PSV took advantage of in the manner of a great team and secured the Dutch championship title.
No one in Eindhoven had high hopes for it for a long time, and it wasn't even realistic until seven days ago when Ajax was comfortably defeated at home by NEC Nijmegen...
This was followed by a shocking draw for the "spearmen" in Groningen (2:2, home goal with a player less in the 99th minute), so PSV took over the leading position, which they confirmed in the last round in Rotterdam for the 26th title in the club's history.
Peter Bosz's team defeated Sparta 90-3 in the final 1 minutes of the Eredivisie season, so it was irrelevant what happened at the Johan Cruyff Arena, where Ajax was better than Twente - 2-0.
In the end, PSV collected 79 points, one more than Ajax, after finishing the season with seven consecutive wins - thus defending the title they dominantly won last year.
PSV took the lead against Sparta midway through the first half with a goal from Ivan Perišić, the home team equalized early in the second, but the favorite quickly came into its own.
Seasoned goalscorer Luuk de Jong restored the lead in the 58th minute., and secured the title Malik Tilman is 84.
"It was exciting, wasn't it? In the first half we had control and the advantage, and at 1-1 I thought: 'This is not going to be one of those days'. We played well, but even at 2-1 we knew the job was not done. At 3-1 we could breathe a sigh of relief," said De Jong.
Bosz is a champion for the second time with PSV.
"We were in a hopeless situation, but we believed that nothing was lost - we did what we could, won consistently, and welcomed the chance to decide for ourselves. Against Sparta we showed quality and character, that's what you need to have to win the title," emphasized the former coach of Ajax, Borussia Dortmund, Bayer Leverkusen and Lyon.
It was crazy at the end of the season, but when you add it all up, the 2024/25 campaign was unusual from the start.
PSV dominated for a long time, at one point even having a double-digit plus, but showed flaws in the period from the beginning of February to the beginning of March this year.
Then, Bosch's team showed their strength when they eliminated Juventus in the Champions League playoffs, but they were losing points in the championship - they went four matches without a triumph (three draws in a row - NEC, Willem II and Utrecht) and lost to Go Ahead Eagles...
On the penultimate day of March, Ajax defeated PSV 2-0 in the Eindhoven derby with goals from Davy Klaassen and Bertrand Traore for a nine-point lead with seven rounds remaining - it was believed that the title was heading to Amsterdam, but something that is not often seen happened.
Ajax won three times in the last seven rounds (with two draws and one loss), PSV won the maximum 21 points and the trophy remained in the showcases of the 1988 European champions.
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