In the section VZ 5 makes Football zone a daily selection of the five most important news stories from the past 24 hours. Handy for those who haven’t been able to follow everything, and great for those who like to read it again. It is not necessarily about the most viewed articles on the website, but really about the story of the day.
Giménez gives Feyenoord an unimaginable group win in EL
Feyenoord has secured itself of wintering in the Europa League. In De Kuip, the team of trainer Arne Slot was 1-0 too strong for Lazio thanks to a goal by substitute Santiago Giménez. With the win, Feyenoord also finished first in Group F, while FC Midtjylland finished second. Lazio is the number three in the group to the Conference League; Sturm Graz is out in Europe. Remarkably, all teams finished on eight points, but Feyenoord has the best goal difference.
Read more about Feyenoord’s victory here
Gerard Pique suddenly announces goodbye: Saturday’s last game ever
Gerard Pique has announced his retirement from Barcelona. Via Twitter, the 35-year-old center defender reports in an emotional farewell video that he will play his last game in the Spotify Camp Nou next Saturday. In the thirteenth round of LaLiga, Barcelona will meet Almeria on Saturday.
Click here for more details on Piqué’s farewell
Second choice PSV records remarkably simple victory in Norway
PSV has closed the group stage of the Europa League with a win in Norway. The stripped-down team of Ruud van Nistelrooij had remarkably few problems with FK Bodø/Glimt on the artificial grass of the Aspmyra stadium. Via an own goal by Alfons Sampsted and a regular goal by Johan Bakayoko, PSV took a comfortable 0-2 lead. In injury time, Nino Zugelj made it 1-2, but it didn’t bother the Eindhoven team. PSV finishes second in Group A, because group winner Arsenal simultaneously won against FC Zurich (1-0). The Eredivisionist continues in the Europa League in the play-offs against a number three from the Champions League.
Here you will find more information about PSV’s win
Mo Ihattaren makes himself heard for the first time after Ajax’s announcement
Mohamed Ihattaren has made himself heard on Instagram three days after Ajax announced that it will not continue with the attacking midfielder annex attacker. The playmaker has posted a Story, which shows that he is running through Utrecht. ‘Winners never quit, quitters never win’ is the accompanying text that Ihattaren placed with the images. There is also an emoji of a football and the text ‘soon’.
You can read the whole story about Ihattaren here
Pavlidis once again provides AZ with difficulty playing group win and extra premium
AZ managed to win Group E of the Conference League with pain and effort on Thursday. Pascal Jansen’s team only seemed to secure the necessary point at home against Dnipro-1, but three minutes before the end Vangelis Pavlidis brought in the win: 2-1. Dnipro-1 finishes second and plays in the play-off round, which AZ may skip as group winner. The Alkmaarders also add a premium of 500,000 euros for winning the game (that would be 166,000 euros in a draw) plus 650,000 euros for winning the group.
Read the complete article about the good performance of AZ . here