Phillip Cocu looked ahead to the meeting with Atlético Madrid at Philips Stadium. Among other things, he praised the atmosphere in the home Philips Stadium. "Several coaches are impressed by that, it should help us get a good result against Atlético Madrid."
According to Cocu, that atmosphere in the stadium works both ways: "On the one hand, as a player, you feel the support of the crowd. Your own team is going to feel better when it notices that the crowd is behind them. But it also has an effect on the opponent. I have heard from several coaches that they were impressed by the atmosphere in the Philips Stadium."
Ambition to overwinter
"You have to be realistic. We want to overwinter. We have the ambition to achieve that in the Champions League. But we have qualitatively very strong opponents," Cocu said of PSV's chances in the pool with FC Bayern Munich, Atlético Madrid and FC Rostov. "We have to have self-confidence and conviction to achieve something, otherwise you don't need to start."
According to Cocu, that is also the lesson of last season: you get a few chances and then you have to be very efficient. "Then the game breaks open and then you might have some more opportunities, but it is a stiff opponent of high level so it is logical that no fifteen chances arise. We have to be well organized at the same time. If we have a top day we can get a result."
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Like head coach Cocu, captain Luuk de Jong also looked ahead to the game | © PSV Media
Last season
During the press conference, captain Luuk de Jong cited last season's first Champions League home game, against Manchester United. "Then everything was right. I didn't know beforehand what to expect but when the match was on I noticed the atmosphere of the crowd. That helped us to a higher level. You can win against United if the crowd gets behind it." Last season's match against Atlético Madrid twice ended in 0-0. De Jong does not yet know whether he would also be satisfied with another spectacle. "Ideally you take the win at home. But you have to read how the match goes and then you may be happy with a point afterwards. With public behind us we can stunt, but it's going to be very difficult."