PSV Aims to End Opening-Day Curse Against Shakhtar
PSV Eindhoven walk into the Champions League under the floodlights of the Philips Stadion with a strange mix of swagger and scar tissue. They are Dutch champions, back in the big time for a 20th campaign in the competition’s main format – one more than old rivals Ajax – yet they carry a nagging burden: five straight defeats on Matchday 1.
Peter Bosz thinks this is the year that changes.
“We play much better football now,” the 62-year-old insisted on the eve of the opener against Shakhtar Donetsk. “Our development is far more advanced than at this stage last year. But we must step it up another notch for the Champions League.”
No grand declarations. No talk of how far PSV might go in the new league phase. Bosz batted away any temptation to map out the road ahead. One game at a time, one three-point haul at a time. That is the mantra.
A different PSV, a different level
Bosz has seen enough over the past 12 months to believe his team have grown into a sharper, more cohesive unit. The football, he says, is “superior collectively” to previous seasons, with the squad more in tune with his ideas and demands.
Domestic dominance has fed the confidence. But Europe is a different animal, and Bosz did not sugar-coat that reality. He stressed that intensity and concentration must rise again if PSV are to turn performances into results against continental opposition.
The numbers around them suggest goals, drama, and very little calm. PSV’s last 10 Champions League matches have produced 44 goals. Openings, chaos, and plenty of risk. Supporters heading to the Philips Stadion have every reason to expect another wild night.
They have history with Shakhtar to back that up. The Ukrainian side return to Eindhoven with fresh memories of that breathless 2024 clash, when PSV struck three times after the 86th minute to steal a 3-2 win from a match that had seemed lost. It was the kind of finish that lingers in a club’s psyche – and in an opponent’s.
Shakhtar arrive with their familiar blueprint: a blend of slick Brazilian talent and hardened Ukrainian quality, a mix that has so often made them awkward, unpredictable Champions League guests. Bosz knows they will not roll over for anyone.
Bosz defends Van Bommel amid media storm
The build-up has not only been about tactics and line-ups. Bosz also found himself in the middle of a domestic storm over Ruben van Bommel, who has been under intense scrutiny after a controversial tackle.
The PSV coach did not hold back.
“All this media outrage is laughable and ridiculous,” he said. “It was just one incident in a football match. This polemic needs to end now for Ruben’s peace of mind.”
Bosz explained that he deliberately chose not to treat Van Bommel differently or shield him with special measures, wary that such a move would only amplify the fuss. He expressed relief that the opponent involved in the challenge is recovering well, but made it clear he felt a line had been crossed in the public debate.
He also pointed to what he sees as a double standard: previous serious injuries to PSV players, he argued, never triggered the same wave of indignation. That imbalance, in his view, says as much about the media climate as it does about the tackle itself.
Breaking the hex
Strip away the noise and the narrative is simple. PSV, with all their domestic momentum and European pedigree, are desperate to stop the rot on Matchday 1. Five opening defeats in a row have left scars, and Bosz is demanding a ruthless response.
The stadium is ready. The opposition is dangerous. The goals, if recent history is any guide, will come.
Now the question is whether this sharper, more mature PSV can finally turn the performance that Bosz sees on the training ground into the kind of European statement that ends a curse and sets the tone for a season that could define his tenure.
