Twente, Sparta, Utrecht or Heerenveen, who will enter the Conference League?

Four clubs. FC Twente, Sparta Rotterdam, FC Utrecht and sc Heerenveen. One European ticket.

The playoffs for a spot in the preliminary round of the Conference League begin tonight. At 6:45 p.m. is the Heerenveen-Twente match and at 9 p.m. Utrecht-Sparta. Sunday are the returns. The two winners advance to next week’s final.

FC Twente is the favorite after a handsome fifth place in the premier league, five points ahead of number six Sparta.

Heerenveen hosted Twente thirty times before and won ten times, Twente won twelve times. In March it was 3-3 in Enschede, while Twente was leading 3-1.

“Given our soccer, there could have been more in both games for us,” looked back at Twente coach Ron Jans, who is retiring after this season. “The last few games we are in good shape. Confidence is high, we have a decently fit squad and the form is good.”

Heerenveen did not lose since April 22 and Twente remained unbeaten after the defeat against FC Utrecht (on April 16). Last weekend they even won 3-1 against Ajax.

Heerenveen coach Kees van Wonderen expects a tough showdown. “You have to start from yourself and analyze them. You make a plan on that and you try to strike in that. I expect a very open match that goes both ways.”

“Twente is a very complete team that can put a lot of pressure on an opponent. It looks fresh, fit and energetic. That means we have to tap an incredibly high level to measure up against that,” Van Wonderen concluded.

Sparta has already accomplished something of note this season. Anyone who had said before the season that the club would finish sixth would have been declared crazy. But coach Maurice Steijn’s squad has succeeded.

The coach can count on routine player Bart Vriends again against Utrecht (he had been struggling with an injury since April). “It’s great what we have achieved, but we now want to cash in on something with this special eleven. We won’t really set something unique until we win the playoffs,” the defender said.

The fact is that Utrecht is proving to be a difficult opponent this, as well as in past seasons. The Domstadelingen – ranked seventh in the league – won 3-0 against Sparta on away and 3-1 at home this season. In the premier league, they have been unbeaten against the Rotterdammers for fifteen consecutive games.

Utrecht boasts the premier league’s co-top scorer Anastasios Douvikas. He, like PSV’s Xavi Simons, scored nineteen goals this season. “You play all year to get here,” said Michael Silberbauer, Utrecht’s Danish coach. “Now that you’re here, you want to get the best out of it.”