Ruud van Nistelrooij saw another solid opponent in AS Monaco on Tuesday. The PSV head coach acknowledged at the press conference afterwards that his team got away well against the French a few times, but also points to moments when his own players showed ‘world level’ actions. Reporter Kalum van Oudheusden was there on behalf of Voetbalzone and questioned both Van Nistelrooij and ‘beacon of hope’ Luuk de Jong.
PSV crossed the line with a hard-fought victory on Tuesday evening. For a long time, the Monegasque seemed to take off with a 1-2 victory in the Philips Stadium, until substitute Érick Gutiérrez from an assist with De Jong’s head still made it 2-2 in the final minute. The attack leader then headed his team to victory in extra time and with it the last preliminary round of the Champions League. However, Van Nistelrooij does not want to attribute the conversion solely to luck.
“It was not just luck,” says the 46-year-old trainer afterwards. “But also. The ball on the crossbar (from Breel Embolo in overtime, ed.): then it’s okay. On the other hand, you can say: Luuk will head it in.” Van Nistelrooij calls the latter action a textbook example of ‘world class’, of which he saw several examples with his team. “I see a tackle by Armando Obispo, who prevents the 3-1. That is world level. I have seen saves from Walter Benítez, which is simply world class. That is simply the highest level.”
“I said in the dressing room after the game that this is an exceptional team,” Van Nistelrooij continues his praise. I already thought that last season, when they won the cup final after falling behind. And now the Johan Cruijff Scale. There’s something in the squad that survives when the going gets tough.”
Luuk de Jong: a beacon of hope?
Whether the Eindhoven survival power is due to ‘beacon of hope’ – as Van Oudheusden describes him – Luuk de Jong, the match winner is not sure. “Of course we have a lot of qualities in the team and my head is one of those qualities. The team knows that too, so they try to look for that too. That doesn’t always work, but they keep looking and luckily that 3-2 falls.” I think that’s the most important thing: that you know from each other how you can make maximum use of each other.”