From championship jitters to record breakers: PSV's road to the title

[p]It's no understatement to say that [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/psv/M9UEHJWi/"]PSV[/a] opened the season as the clear-cut favourite to win the Eredivisie. The Eindhoven giants came off the back of back-to-back title wins, with the second built on a monumental comeback that saw PSV overcome a double-digit points deficit to snatch the championship from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/ajax/8UOvIwnb/"]Ajax[/a]'s firm grip.[/p][h2]Strong window[/h2][p]A good summer transfer window also saw [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bosz-peter/Ak7J86g1/"]Peter Bosz[/a] keep most of his key players in Eindhoven. [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/saibari-ismael/WzSmqNMQ/"]Ismael Saibari[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/veerman-joey/AgXeAAQR/"]Joey Veerman[/a] stayed, as well as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/dest-sergino/lOQwOgTR/"]Sergiño Dest[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/perisic-ivan/4AbKyVr9/"]Ivan Perisic[/a], and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/pepi-ricardo/GE8fEuGS/"]Ricardo Pepi[/a], who was destined to take [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/de-jong-luuk/fVuRxt84/"]Luuk de Jong[/a]'s spot in the striker position.[/p][p]A couple of big sales, including [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/tillman-malik/pGHnblVn/"]Malik Tillman[/a] (€35M), [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/lang-noa/4YZobWel/"]Noa Lang[/a] (€25M), and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bakayoko-johan/KGxRmpyH/"]Johan Bakayoko[/a] (€18M), meant PSV could enter the market with a full wallet, unlike rivals Ajax and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/feyenoord/8zjySeoN/"]Feyenoord[/a]. [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/van-bommel-ruben/djWkTIzc/"]Ruben van Bommel[/a] came from AZ, and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/bayern-munich/nVp0wiqd/"]Bayern[/a] talent [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/wanner-paul/hpGfyeg0/"]Paul Wanner[/a] made a surprising move to Eindhoven, which cost PSV a combined €30.8 million[/p][embed guid="2ea3c132-aa09-4ffa-82a8-e11b5e8c1e0f" url="https://x.com/PSV/status/1958835312622236086?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]Further reinforcements included [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/hernadis-yarek-gasiorowski/4UxxcIjS/"]Yarek Gasiorowski[/a] from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/valencia/CQeaytrD/"]Valencia[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/plea-alassane/0rfLpu2t/"]Alassane Plea[/a] from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/b-monchengladbach/88HSzjDr/"]Borussia Mönchengladbach[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/sildillia-kiliann/WCM2C2l0/"]Kiliann Sildillia[/a] from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/freiburg/fiEQZ7C7/"]Freiburg[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/man-dennis/zwvX5g6l/"]Dennis Man[/a] from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/parma/6DxlaxHN/"]Parma[/a], and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/kovar-matej/tIXuiy4C/"]Matej Kovar[/a] from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/bayer-leverkusen/4jcj2zMd/"]Bayer Leverkusen[/a] on loan.[/p][h2]Even stronger start[/h2][p]After laying claim to their 15th Johan Cruyff Shield with a 2-1 win over [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/g-a-eagles/hG8POBb8/"]Go Ahead Eagles[/a], PSV got off to a strong start in the Eredivisie with three consecutive wins. [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/sparta-rotterdam/KK4FaFV3/"]Sparta[/a] (6-1), [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/groningen/MBUGcjb9/"]FC Groningen[/a] (2-0), and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/twente/dhOKTHGA/"]FC Twente[/a] (4-2) were beaten before newly promoted [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/telstar/Aw0qTPat/"]Telstar[/a] came and shocked Eindhoven with a 2-0 win over PSV - the club's first Eredivisie win since 1978.[/p][p]That one mishap set the team straight, so it seemed. After the shocking home loss, PSV went unbeaten for 18 straight league games. A 13-game win streak included a 3-2 victory away at Feyenoord and a record-breaking 14th consecutive away win. PSV would eventually extend their record streak to 16 consecutive away wins and head into 2026 with an 11-point lead.[/p][h2]The Veerman Rollercoaster[/h2][p]After having been denied moves in earlier windows, an incredible first half of the Eredivisie season, in which he scored eight goals and gave seven assists, saw Joey Veerman get extremely close to a mid-season move to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/fenerbahce/MsbmracL/"]Fenerbahçe[/a] after the Turkish giants activated the release clause in the midfield maestro's contract.[/p][embed guid="6d7854e1-fd6d-4a15-ab90-8d58c3c59372" url="https://x.com/PSV/status/2003851990888247643?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]After all the stars aligned for a big move, Veerman and PSV [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/news/soccer-eredivisie-psv-s-joey-veerman-to-stay-until-at-least-the-summer-of-2026-club-confirm/Y1YjxCUh/"]pulled the plug[/a]. The [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/fc-volendam/6VbkuOqa/"]Volendam[/a] native chose to stay in the PSV to see out the season for a third-straight Eredivisie title. "We will be doing everything we can with the entire squad to make it an unforgettable second half of the season," Veerman said in a statement.[/p][p]Besides Veerman, striker Ricardo Pepi also stayed in Eindhoven after PSV rejected several bids from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/fulham/69ZiU2Om/"]Fulham[/a]. The core of the team stayed intact, giving PSV, which had an 11-point lead at the halfway point, an enormous chance to win a third straight title.[/p][h2]Championship jitters[/h2][p]After rivals Feyenoord and Ajax got off to horrible starts in 2026, PSV ran away with the lead and had their fans singing about the title on February 1st, when Feyenoord were dismantled in a 3-0 win that saw the hosts from Eindhoven take the three-goal lead inside 18 minutes. PSV kept increasing the lead, and with the Christmas break just behind them, the gap was 17 points and growing by the week.[/p][p]Just one week earlier, PSV's winning streak had come to an end with a 2-2 home draw against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/nac-breda/nLNrHc14/"]NAC Breda[/a], and less than two weeks after the win over Feyenoord, a second league loss was added to the column.[/p][p]FC Volendam, another promoted side, continued PSV's disturbing trend of losing to newcomers, falling 2-1 in Volendam on an 87th-minute winner from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/oehlers-aurelio/WnkTNUm0/"]Aurelio Oehlers[/a]. All of a sudden, PSV no longer looked invincible.[/p][image alt="PSV's form dropped as they could've won the Eredivisie title" id="2a46625e-7d87-492d-ae3f-3c67b8a1f741" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="d2865893-906d-46f1-95d1-8cc11ed1ff44" original-width="1600" original-height="900" /][p]Shaky weeks followed, though wins kept stacking up as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/heerenveen/EDjXSyWG/"]Heerenveen[/a] (2-1), [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/heracles/bB3JbZpA/"]Heracles[/a] (3-1), and AZ (2-1) were all beaten in the three weeks that followed the shock defeat. PSV had a 19-point lead, and that's when the moment came: the first shot at winning a 27th Eredivisie title.[/p][p]But PSV didn't take the chance. The Eindhoven giants caught a bad case of the championship jitters and lost 3-2 at home to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/nijmegen/nRluRF0T/"]NEC[/a]. The jitters got even worse a week later, even though the title couldn't have been won after Feyenoord's 1-1 draw with Ajax earlier on Sunday - in a specially rescheduled away match at Telstar, PSV lost 3-1, making them the first reigning champions to lose three games to promoted teams in the same season since 1958.[/p][p]The third attempt is where PSV finally struck gold - FC Utrecht were [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/psv-M9UEHJWi/utrecht-p6QXMgOj/?mid=x0deWfR0"]beaten 4-3 in a comeback spectacle[/a], meaning PSV needed Feyenoord to drop points the following day against FC Volendam. Robin van Persie's men couldn't put up a fight in Volendam and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/fc-volendam-6VbkuOqa/feyenoord-8zjySeoN/?mid=KMfOZTXh"]drew 0-0[/a][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/fc-volendam-6VbkuOqa/feyenoord-8zjySeoN/?mid=KMfOZTXh"]drew 0-0[/a] with the Palingboeren, meaning PSV had finally won their 27th Eredivisie title.[/p][p]The title win is the earliest by date in Eredivisie history. PSV broke its own record set in 1978, when the club won their seventh league title on April 8th.[/p][embed guid="a3ccc9fd-4d2b-4fe3-9a0d-0ca5c2cdd1db" url="https://x.com/PSV/status/2040797389955445203?s=20" social-type="twitter" /]