Go Ahead Eagles, in their second ever European football appearance, were the only shining light in another disappointing evening for Dutch teams in European competition.

Go Ahead, playing away to Greek side Panathinaikos won 1-2 – their first ever European victory.  “This is fantastic, this is what you dream of as a little boy,” said Milan Smit who scored the winning goal, after the game.

Also on Thursday evening, Europa League hopefuls FC Utrecht lost 0-1 to Norwegian side Brann and Feyenoord suffered a 0-2 defeat at the hands of Aston Villa. AZ of Alkmaar, taking part in the Conference League, lost 4-0 to AEK Larnac.

Earlier in the week AEX were hammered 4-0 by Olympic Marseille and PSV managed no more than a 1-1 draw against Bayer Leverkusen.

Rankings

The Go Ahead win added valuable coefficient points to the Dutch Uefa ranking. The Netherlands are currently sixth with 62.366 points, but Portugal are closing in  after wins by Braga and Porto.

The coefficient standings are crucial because they determine how many Champions League spots each country receives, and the Netherlands need to stay high in the ranking to keep two guaranteed places in the 2027/28 season.