Wednesday, June 16, 2021 at 12:49 PM• Dominic Mostert

PSV regrets UEFA’s decision not to allow away supporters in the preliminary rounds of European club tournaments. The people of Eindhoven were linked to Galatasaray in the second preliminary round of the Champions League on Wednesday afternoon and are not allowed to bring fans to Istanbul. PSV will welcome at least 25,000 supporters, who must be able to demonstrate that they are fully vaccinated or can submit a negative corona test.

“It is fantastic that we will soon be able to enjoy football with our fans. We have been looking forward to this for a long time,” says commercial director Frans Janssen on the PSV website. “But in our view, this also includes away supporters. We find it a pity and incomprehensible that UEFA has decided otherwise. All of Europe is relaxing, football fans fly after their own national team during the European Championship, but according to the association, that is not possible in a club context. We don’t find that explainable.”

PSV meets Galatasaray in the second preliminary round of the Champions League

PSV was linked to Galatasaray during the draw on Wednesday afternoon.Read article

PSV will play in Eindhoven on 20 or 21 July; the return in Turkey follows a week later. Director of football affairs John de Jong speaks of a ‘great challenge’. “Galatasaray finished second in the Turkish league last year. It is of course still difficult to indicate what Galatasaray’s exact level is at the moment, but from last season’s result you can conclude that she and PSV value each other.” We have the ambition to reach the group stage of the Champions League and everything will be dominated by that when the selection starts preparation on June 25.”

If PSV survives the second preliminary round, it is unseeded in the third preliminary round. PSV can play against Shakhtar Donetsk, Benfica, AS Monaco and KRC Genk. The draw for that round will be made on July 19, so before the diptych in the second preliminary round. If PSV loses in the second preliminary round, it will fall back to the third preliminary round of the Europa League. If there is also a loss in this, PSV will enter the last preliminary round of the Conference League. PSV was last represented in the group stage of the Champions League in the 2018/19 season.