PSV Eindhoven head coach Peter Bosz slammed his side’s apparent showboating in Wednesday’s 3-2 win over Liverpool.
The Dutch champions brought an end to the Reds’ perfect Champions League record as they came from behind to hand Arne Slot his first European defeat as Liverpool boss.
Goals from Johan Bakayoko, Ismael Saibari and Ricardo Pepi cancelled out Cody Gakpo’s penalty and Harvey Elliot’s strike for the Reds.
Liverpool played the final few minutes with ten men when youngster Amara Nallo was dismissed for a rash challenge just four minutes after coming on for his debut.
PSV held on to book their place in the play-off round with a 14th place finish, however, Bosz was far from pleased with his side’s antics in the closing stages.
The Dutch side kept possession with a number of flicks and tricks, which appeared overly flamboyant but nevertheless delighted the home crowd.
“I thought it was terrible. I’m really annoyed,” Bosz said after the game. “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.”
He added: “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.”
Bosz did eventually put aside his anger as he reflected on a positive result for his side who are in the hat for Friday’s play-off round draw.
“I watched it with great pleasure,” said Bosz. “I understand very well that it wasn’t the best Liverpool team, but there was still a lot of quality on the pitch.
GettyPSV came from behind twice to see off a second-string Liverpool side[/caption]
“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, but also those by Ismael, and we achieved a good victory.”
As a result of the new Champions League format, PSV could find themselves paired with fellow Eredivisie side Feyenoord or Juventus in next month’s play-offs – something Bosz has major reservations about.
“I don’t like that,” he said on the prospect of playing Feyenoord. “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.”
The defeat for Slot’s side had no bearing on their league finish thanks to Barcelona’s 2-2 draw with Atalanta.
The Reds first venture into the new Champions League structure has proved to be a fruitful one having claimed top spot and safe passage into the round of 16 in March.
Champions League table
| Pos | Club | MP | W | D | L | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Liverpool | 8 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 21 |
| 2 | Barcelona | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 15 | 19 |
| 3 | Arsenal | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 19 |
| 4 | Inter | 8 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 19 |
| 5 | Atletico Madrid | 8 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 18 |
| 6 | Leverkusen | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 16 |
| 7 | LOSC | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 16 |
| 8 | Aston Villa | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 16 |
| 9 | Atalanta | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 14 | 15 |
| 10 | Dortmund | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 15 |
| 11 | Real Madrid | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 15 |
| 12 | Bayern | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 15 |
| 13 | Milan | 8 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 15 |
| 14 | PSV | 8 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 14 |
| 15 | PSG | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 13 |
| 16 | Benfica | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 13 |
| 17 | Monaco | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 13 |
| 18 | Brest | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | -1 | 13 |
| 19 | Feyenoord | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3 | -3 | 13 |
| 20 | Juventus | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 12 |
| 21 | Celtic | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | -1 | 12 |
| 22 | Man City | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 11 |
| 23 | Sporting | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 11 |
| 24 | Club Brugge | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | -4 | 11 |
| 25 | Dinamo Zagreb | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | -7 | 11 |
| 26 | VfB Stuttgart | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4 | -4 | 10 |
| 27 | Shakhtar Donetsk | 8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | -8 | 7 |
| 28 | Bologna | 8 | 1 | 3 | 4 | -5 | 6 |
| 29 | Crvena zvezda | 8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | -9 | 6 |
| 30 | SK Strum Graz | 8 | 2 | 0 | 6 | -9 | 6 |
| 31 | Sparta Praha | 8 | 1 | 1 | 6 | -14 | 4 |
| 32 | RB Leipzig | 8 | 1 | 0 | 7 | -7 | 3 |
| 33 | Girona | 8 | 1 | 0 | 7 | -8 | 3 |
| 34 | RB Salzburg | 8 | 1 | 0 | 7 | -22 | 3 |
| 35 | Slovan Bratislava | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | -20 | 0 |
| 36 | Young Boys | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 | -21 | 0 |
9 to 24 entered into play-off
25 to 36 eliminated
Liverpool know they will face one of Paris Saint-Germain, Benfica, Monaco or Brest for the place in the quarter-finals.
