Plotting PSV’s 2021/22 European Journey
The two-legged tie begins at Leicester City Stadium on Thursday evening, with the Foxes hosting Boeren in an 8pm BST kick-off ahead of the return fixture held at PSV Stadion a week later.
A second-place finish in the Eredivisie last term led to PSV’s qualification for the early rounds of the UEFA Champions League, which began in July 2021. They overcame Galatasaray 7-2 on aggregate in the second qualifying round.
Eran Zahavi caught the eye with a hat-trick in the first tie, while Germany midfielder Mario Götze’s brace contributed to a five-goal win in the first leg.
Midtjylland of Denmark were up next in the third round of qualifying and another comfortable victory was secured by Roger Schmidt’s side, this time triumphing 4-0 over the two legs.
Now within touching distance of a place in the group stages of Europe's elite continental tournament, the 2021 Johan Cruyff Shield winners were tasked with tackling Benfica at the play-off stage, but were unable to get over the line, losing 2-1 on aggregate to transfer into the UEFA Europa League group stages.
Drawn in a group including Monaco, Real Sociedad and Sturm Graz, the Dutch side drew 2-2 with Sociedad on matchday one and backed that up with three points in Austria, comprehensively defeating Die Schwoazn 4-1.
The first of two group stage defeats was inflicted by Monaco, who left Eindhoven with a 2-1 success to strengthen their grip on top spot in the pool, before a goalless draw in the reverse fixture two weeks later.
PSV completed the double over Sturm Graz courtesy of a 2-0 home victory on matchday five and rounded off the group stage with a trip to San Sebastián. Sitting in second, two points ahead of Sociedad, a draw would have been good enough to qualify for the knockout stages of the competition, but their Spanish hosts triumphed 3-0 to take second position.
Finishing with an overall record of two wins, two draws and two losses, the Eindhoven club’s third-place finish led to them follow Leicester by moving into the inaugural UEFA Europa Conference League.
The knockout round play-off saw PSV drawn against Israeli outfit Maccabi Tel Aviv and after a narrow 1-0 home win in the first leg, thanks to Cody Gakpo’s strike, a 1-1 draw was enough to progress into the last-16.
There they faced Scandinavian side Copenhagen in what became a thrilling round of 16 clash containing 12 goals across the two ties. Despite being 3-1 down at half-time in the opening leg at PSV Stadion, the hosts managed to secure a 4-4 draw.
They could have even taken a lead to Denmark had Gakpo dispatched a penalty that would have completed his hat-trick, while Ritsu Dōan and Zahavi were the other names on the scoresheet in the second half.
PSV had no such trouble when they headed to Parken Stadium for the return leg, recording a 4-0 victory, striking twice in each half. Zahavi’s brace, combined with goals from Götze and Madueke, sealed a safe passage through to the competition’s last-eight stage.