Player of the Weekend: 28th January

As much as these Mondays are a time to look forward to the week ahead, we use them to reflect on the weekend of football that we’ve all just taken in.

This time around, we’re adapting the rules a little bit as our usual Player of the Weekend steps off of the pitch and into the dugout… the dugout of De Klassieker no less, as Feyenoord hosted Ajax in what is the biggest rivalry in Dutch football.

Pre-match narratives of Frenkie De Jong’s transfer to FC Barcelona and Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s end of season departure as Feyenoord coach floated around De Kuip, but it is the latter who left the stadium as the more triumphant man of the hour.

For the first time since 1964, Feyenoord scored 6 goals against their Amsterdam enemy, denting their title credentials and closing the gap between the two clubs. Gio’s spell as the manager of the Rotterdam side has been iconic, giving the fans their first league title since 1999 and adding KNVB cups to the trophy cabinet, too.

After the announcement of his plans to leave in May, this was the perfect end to what might feel like a victory lap around the Eredivisie clubs. Six goals, two from Robin van Persie, himself retiring from football at the end of the season, made for scenes of joy and jubilation at De Kuip.

For being the talk of the stadium and for masterminding what will go down as a famous victory for his beloved club, Gio van Bronckhorst takes our title of the weekend.