Van Nistelrooij on extra Champions League spot: ‘Gives Netherlands prestige’

“Great development for the premier league.” The extra direct starting ticket for the Champions League that the Netherlands has from the 2024/25 season also pleases PSV coach Ruud van Nistelrooij. “Definitely something to be proud of, but it is important to maintain and expand that place.”

Jan de Jong, director of the Eredivisie CV, called the extra place in the group stage of the Champions League a “collective achievement of all the premier league clubs.”

He is also positive about the future: “The sixth place in the UEFA ranking, because of the extra European tickets, is incredibly important for the attractiveness of the Eredivisie, the commercial growth and financial stability of the clubs, the development and value of players and the attraction for new talents. Now we must work together to ensure that we retain this spot.”

According to De Jong, all clubs, including those that have not played European soccer in recent years, have done their bit.

De Jong: “Together we have put the importance of European soccer at the center of our concerns by agreeing, among other things, that all clubs in the Eredivisie commit to cooperate with requests to reschedule matches in the interest of an optimal match schedule for the European playing clubs.”

See below for the current state of the UEFA coefficient list. The first four receive four direct starting tickets to the Champions League main tournament. Numbers 5 and 6 get two direct places and a spot in the preliminary rounds.

For PSV, the development seems extra favorable, because in the past four seasons they finished second in the league three times. Now that spot still means having to play preliminary rounds to get into the billion-dollar ball, soon the number two will go directly into the main tournament.

The preliminary rounds have been a stumbling block for the Eindhoven side in recent years. Successively FC Basel, Benfica and Rangers proved too strong.

PSV is currently third, but Van Nistelrooij does not necessarily want to speak of a favorable development for PSV: “There is more to winning than just getting Champions League soccer. We are concerned with the sporting piece, not with the big sums to be earned in that competition.”

“We are sportsmen and we want to play as well as we can, win, finish maximum to our potential. That’s being a footballer and a trainer. Then you are not concerned with wonderful sums of money. Even if you have four Champions League spots, you have to have the will to become the best team.”

Still, Van Nistelrooij understands the joy in the Netherlands surrounding the achievement: “If you don’t make it to the Champions League, you are disappointed. It’s great to play in that. That’s where you want to be because of the financial resources, but also because of the prestige of Dutch soccer. And that’s the most important thing.”