PSV took the first step to the eighth finals of the Conference League on Thursday evening. Roger Schmidt’s team had little to fear from Maccabi Tel Aviv, but only won 1-0. Cody Gakpo scored the only goal in the Philips Stadium in the eleventh minute. Without the suspended Olivier Boscagli, the injured André Ramalho and the unfit Armando Obispo, Schmidt had to improvise in the center back. His choice fell on Philipp Max: the attacking left back played there for the last time as a youth player.
“I last played there in the Under 19s, as a professional it’s my first time. I tried to do my best, I do in every place by the way. I think it went pretty well. We kept a clean sheet”, Max said afterwards in conversation with the Eindhovens Dagblad† The German was happy that he could appear at the starting signal again. Max was hit by the corona virus in November and lost his starting spot to Mauro Júnior. “After my corona infection I had quite a few problems, so I was happy to be able to fully prepare for the second half of the season. Now I am fit and I can make it as difficult as possible for the coach.”
Max does his best in the training sessions and in the minutes he gets. “As I said: I really try to make it difficult for the coach. That is also part of the team spirit, we are fully participating in the competition, are in the semi-finals of the cup and want to go far in the Conference League. Then you really need everyone.” Schmidt chose his compatriot because he didn’t want to change too much. “The solution with Philipp meant that we didn’t have to change too much, just Joey Veerman instead of Ibrahim Sangaré in midfield,” the PSV trainer clarified. “I explained the choice to him and gave him some tips, I think he did a really good job.”
“We played a good game tactically. If a team like Maccabi only hits the target once from a free kick, we have done a good job as a team with only one real central defender available.” Schmidt does not regret that no replacement was signed for Ramalho in January. “No, that was our decision. Four central defenders in the selection is enough, but sometimes there is such a day in between. We have found a solution, but of course we can’t always play like this. On Sunday Olivier and Ibrahim are back, then we have more options. And hopefully Ramalho will be back in three or four weeks.”
Before the winter break, PSV finished third in a Europa League group with AS Monaco, Real Sociedad and Sturm Graz and has therefore been sentenced to the play-offs of the Conference League. The return on Israeli soil is scheduled for next week. The winner goes to the eighth finals, which Feyenoord and AZ are already sure of.