No PSV player was not firmly sore from the game PSV played against Sporting CP on Thursday night. In Lisbon, the team lost 4-0, making it hopeless for European football in the second half of the season.
Bergwijn
Steven Bergwijn was the first to tell his story on camera on Thursday. RTL 7 showed the striker's face looking like thunder. "You very quickly get two shitty goals against with which you play yourself out of the game," was Bergwijn's conclusion after being asked where things went wrong on Thursday night. "We tried to play football, but it didn't work," he continued. "All the second balls were for them. Maybe it's part of the phase we're in."
Last Sunday, Bergwijn celebrated his comeback with two goals and became match winner against sc Heerenveen, but there was no hero's role for him in Lisbon. "We (Bergwijn and Malen, ed.) are not robots. We have to do it as a team."
Dumfries
Captain Denzel Dumfries made a sorry gesture with his arms to the approximately 2,300 PSV fans traveling with him after the match. "This is a black page, again," he later spoke to FOX Sports. "This is terribly sour. We want to turn the tide and we are doing everything we can, but you see that today things went wrong in the standard situations. It is important that we stay together now and keep giving one hundred percent every week. We just have to keep going, but this is a bitter pill. Sunday we have Emmen in front of us again and then we have to start again at zero."
Van Bommel
Head coach Mark van Bommel saw PSV play a hopeless game after 15 minutes. "They scored twice from two throw-ins. I think tonight would have turned out differently if that hadn't happened. Sporting is a good, experienced team. Difficult to score three goals against," said Van Bommel, who is confident his team can eventually pick up the thread. "We have to win on Sunday. I have confidence in that. Also in myself and in the players. We have a young group that has to learn to deal with setbacks quickly."