Deal between PSV and FC Twente? “Maybe there was something in it back then.”

Next Sunday, the last round of the Eredivisie is on the calendar. PSV will host number 3 FC Twente, which managed to secure third place from NEC last Sunday.

The Tukkers won 4-0 at home against Sparta Rotterdam themselves and saw that the Nijmegen team lost 2-1 away at FC Groningen. As a result, the team of John van den Brom is two points ahead of NEC with still one match to play.

Now the Tukkers prepare for the final league match away at PSV. Peter Bosz’s team has had the national title in hand for ages and, in principle, has nothing left to play for.

However, PSV can still play a major role in the race for the Champions League qualifying round. There are also reports that PSV might take their foot off the gas in a match against FC Twente, in order to force their rival Ajax to play play-offs for qualification to the Conference League.

ESPN analyst Christian Willaert, however, does not think that Bosz's team will just let the match against FC Twente run its course. ''Bitter tongues have claimed that that last match between PSV and FC Twente could be one in which PSV consciously takes the foot off the gas in order to trip up Ajax. That would mean Twente goes to the preliminary rounds, based on the idea that they have less chance of surviving, because in the draw they naturally have a different European status'', says Willaert on ESPN.

Then the financial figures also come into play. ''In this way, PSV would ultimately receive more money from the Champions League. In the past, there might have been something in it, with the so-called marketing pool and that kind of arrangements. But in the meantime, that reward structure has changed and become much more complicated,'' the analyst continues.

Despite these speculations, Willaert is emphatic. ''The difference between the amount you get with one or two Dutch clubs in the Champions League, or with two or three, is nowadays actually very small. In that respect, PSV therefore has no interest in it at all. And apart from that: let's make it clear immediately as well that PSV and Peter Bosz will never let that last home match of the season slip'', according to the ESPN analyst.