Peter Bosz Reveals What Was ‘Terrible’ and Really Irked Him in Liverpool Defeat to PSV Eindhoven

Liverpool suffered a 3-2 defeat against PSV Eindhoven in their final league phase match of the Champions League.

PSV Eindhoven manager Peter Bosz took satisfaction in his team’s victory over Liverpool, despite acknowledging that the visitors did not field their strongest side.

The Reds made several changes to their lineup for the clash with the Dutch champions. Arne Slot’s men had already secured their place in the last 16 of the competition, having won their opening seven matches.

Consequently, nine key players, including captain Virgil van Dijk, star forward Mo Salah, and vice-captain Trent Alexander-Arnold, did not travel to the Netherlands.

Slot handed Champions League debuts to Jayden Danns and James McConnell, while Andy Robertson was deployed as a makeshift centre-back.

Although Liverpool suffered a 3-2 loss, they twice took the lead in the first half through Cody Gakpo’s penalty—marking his return to his former club—and a strike from Harvey Elliott.

However, PSV demonstrated their attacking prowess, with Johan Bakayoko and Ismael Saibari equalising for the hosts before Ricardo Pepi netted what proved to be the match-winner just before half-time.

Liverpool ended the match with 10 men after 18-year-old substitute Amara Nallo received a straight red card for denying Bakayoko a clear goalscoring opportunity.

Despite the defeat, Liverpool secured top spot in the new league phase of the Champions League, while PSV earned a place in the play-off knockout round. Speaking about the victory, PSV boss Bosz said:

“I watched it with great pleasure. I understand very well that it wasn’t the best Liverpool team, but there was still a lot of quality on the pitch. We tried to play our best football against that.

“Hopefully we succeeded. Not everything went well, I also saw enough things that need to be improved, but they were beautiful goals, those by Johan (Bakayoko, ed.), but also those by Ismael, and we achieved a good victory.”

However, Bosz admitted he was irked by PSV showboating in the closing stages and not going for the jugular. He added: “I thought it was terrible. It really annoys me. It’s misplaced, they shouldn’t do that.

“It was a kind of rondo they played there, with a back heel and a no-look pass. If I had been in that position, I would have sawed them off below the knees. You just shouldn’t do that.

“I don’t think it’s respectful to the opponent. I haven’t spoken to them about it yet, but I will. I do like entertaining the crowd, but in a different way. I think we would have entertained the crowd before without all that craziness.”

Liverpool will go up against one of Paris Saint-Germain, Benfica, Monaco, or Brest in the last 16. They will closely follow the play-off stage, where PSV might encounter fellow Dutch side Feyenoord, formerly managed by Slot. However, Bosz expressed a preference for a more ‘exotic’ matchup. He said:

“I don’t like that. When you play in Europe you hope to meet an exotic club, like Liverpool. You prefer not to play against a team from your own country and we’ve already had Juventus.”

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