Netherlands: To participate in the D2 play

By making things too complicated, it was bound to happen in the Eerste Divisie, which is the stepping stone to the elite in the Netherlands.

How could leaders one day decide to adopt such a rule? To sum it up, and frankly you’ll thank us, the Dutch second division divided its season into four parts, each rewarding a kind of mini-champion who qualifies for the end-of-year playoffs (which are coming up). Unless a mini-champion is once again a mini-champion, it is the overall ranking that matters. That’s where ‘s-Hertogenbosch had to deliberately lose in order to qualify through this method based on the season as a whole, which will only happen if Vitesse Arnhem does not take its place in the fourth and final mini-championship.

Landvreugd: “It’s very strange”

For this to happen, while hoping that Vitesse achieves the worst possible result against Cambuur, as well as Dordrecht against Willem II (in case Vitesse wins), they must lose against The Hague to place the latter – already qualified by the overall ranking – at the top of the fourth phase. Finally, to fully understand the absurdity of the situation, ‘s-Hertogenbosch has no chance of getting through this final phase and therefore has nothing to gain on the field, simply relying on its current position throughout the regular season. One wonders why not just follow the example of our Ligue 2 and its exciting race for the playoffs…

‘s-Hertogenbosch coach, Ulrich Landvreugd, is struggling to hide the obvious: “We are starting to do calculations and we will have to look closely at it. It’s very strange.” Before backtracking a bit: “I assume we will play our game, even if we are quite depleted.” This will probably serve as justification. In a more institutional manner, the club responded to L’Equipe stating they would not participate in speculations: “Inquiries regarding this match aim to question our will and interests in regards to the result of the game. FC ‘s-Hertogenbosch is a professional club and plays to win, as coaches and players have already stated after our last two matches.” If you’re curious, all matches of this final round will take place on Friday at 8 p.m.