give children free on Mondays

Feyenoord is heading for the national title, PSV is firmly in second place and SC Cambuur and FC Groningen have now been relegated.

So where is the excitement in the premier league right now?

The battle between Ajax and AZ for third place, which entitles them to a place in the preliminary round of the Europa League, is alive and well. Fourth place is good for a place in the third preliminary round of the Conference League.

Places five through eight are entitled to a place in the playoffs for a ticket into the second preliminary round in the Conference League.

FC Twente (5), Sparta (6) and FC Utrecht (7) are now the designated candidates, but the battle for place eight has not yet been decided. RKC (41 points), sc Heerenveen (41) and NEC (38) now have the most claim to the fourth a final ticket.

At the bottom, Execelsior, FC Emmen, FC Volendam and Vitesse hope to avoid the sixteenth place. The club that finishes sixteenth must play playoffs for promotion/degradation.

Rotterdam municipality: give children free for champions party

The municipality of Rotterdam has asked schools to allow primary and secondary school students to attend Feyenoord’s possible championship celebration on Monday.

The city council agreed with the motion tabled by D66 and GroenLinks. 27 people voted in favor, 12 voted against.

“The inauguration is a wonderful celebration that young and old should be able to attend,” GroenLinks council member Judith Bokhove told the AD. “This way we also prevent truancy, and excuses like ‘sick’.”

The motion did not pass without a fight, by the way, writes the AD.

Education alderman Said Kasmi initially opposed the plan because he felt that the city council should not interfere in such matters. The VVD agreed, but Kasmi’s own party, D66, was behind the call.

The inauguration is scheduled for Monday afternoon at noon on Coolsingel.

Burger gets new coach at Basel

Wouter Burger will get a new trainer at FC Basel starting next season. German Timo Schultz will then start work as the Swiss club’s new trainer. Schultz signed a two-year contract.

The German will succeed interim coach Heiko Vogel, who is in charge of FC Basel following the dismissal of Alex Frei. Former soccer player Schultz worked at St. Pauli until the end of December.

Basel won the first game in the Conference League semifinals against and at Fiorentina (1-2) on Thursday.

Bielsa new national coach of Uruguay

Uruguay’s soccer federation has appointed Argentine Marcelo Bielsa as the new national team coach. He will take charge of the national team through the 2026 World Cup.

Bielsa succeeds Diego Alonso, whose contract was not renewed after being eliminated in the group stage at last year’s World Cup in Qatar. The 67-year-old Bielsa will sit on Uruguay’s bench for the first time in two friendlies against Nicaragua and Cuba in June.

Bielsa previously worked as national coach with Argentina (1998-2004) and Chile (2007-2011). As a club coach, he was under contract to Athletic Club, Olympique Marseille and OSC Lille, among others. He led Leeds United back to the Premier League in 2020 after 16 years. In February last year, he was sacked from the English club.

Optimism at AZ despite defeat

The reactions at AZ were unanimous Thursday after the narrow defeat at West Ham United: this is a bit of a gulp, but in Alkmaar everything is still possible.

“All in all, the good feeling prevails,” defender Sam Beukema spoke afterwards. “With our supporters behind us we can put it right.”

Watch the reactions of coach Pascal Jansen, Sam Beukema and Tijjani Reijnders below:

It is the weekend when Feyenoord-loving Holland hopes for the 16th national championship in the club’s history.

In this liveblog, we take an extensive look ahead to the championship match of the Rotterdammers, who meet Go Ahead Eagles at De Kuip on Sunday at 4:45 pm.

And how are PSV, Ajax and the still European active AZ doing?

We update you all the way here!