Feyenoord secure Champions League ticket with draw against AZ

[p]With a win enough for [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/feyenoord/8zjySeoN/"]Feyenoord[/a] to clinch a second-place finish, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/van-persie-robin/0vgcq6un/"]Robin van Persie[/a] started with full-back [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bos-jordan/fZFBMyjl/"]Jordan Bos[/a] as his left winger and right-back [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mvula-lotomba-jordan/txppGQ0F/"]Jordan Lotomba[/a] as his left-back, leaving [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/sterling-raheem/pfm9avwi/"]Raheem Sterling[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/smal-gijs/MaJpEDJl/"]Gijs Smal[/a] on the bench.[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/az-alkmaar/2RxOow1i/"]AZ[/a] opened the scoring in the same stadium that saw them win the KNVB Beker just three weeks ago - sloppy play at the back handed the ball to AZ deep in Feyenoord's half. [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/parrott-troy/K6H9Uptn/"]Troy Parrott[/a] was put one-on-one by [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/clasie-jordy/jXmcHMfr/"]Jordy Clasie[/a] and whipped it over [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/wellenreuther-timon/0tN8bFmr/"]Wellenreuther[/a], giving the visitors the lead in the opening minute.[/b][/p][embed guid="6c521355-34b0-4eb4-9699-d4eeacbbae95" url="https://x.com/ESPNnl/status/2053488529166987670?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]Somehow, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/moussa-anis-hadj/0vqEKboE/"]Anis Hadj Moussa[/a] failed to equalise for Feyenoord after being given a clear-cut chance by a sleeping Utrecht defence, with Rome-[a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/owusu-oduro-rome-jayden/KxZHJGPg/"]Jayden Owusu-Oduro[/a] saving a close-range effort and a wide-open [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ueda-ayase/8Ssd0upn/"]Ayase Ueda[/a] being overlooked by Hadj Moussa, even though the top scorer stood a meter next to him.[/p][p][b]The Algerian winger made up for his earlier mistake by scoring the equaliser just before the 60-minute mark, calmly placing the ball past Owusu-Oduro's near post after a delightful deep pass from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/van-den-elshout-tobias/l6G2zW1C/"]Tobias van den Elshout[/a].[/b][/p][p]A quiet end to the second half only saw Peer Koopmeiners test either goalkeeper, with the midfielder's long-distance attempts not enough to keep Feyenoord out of the Champions League.[/p][image alt="Key match stats" id="af3e2284-c102-41e1-8f76-bdb3bb0e331c" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="94f88434-959c-4e89-95ac-3b4010a10214" original-width="1200" original-height="1200" /][p]Robin van Persie's team secured a spot in the League Phase of the 2026-27 UEFA Champions League with Sunday's draw, with their four-point lead enough to secure a second-place finish.[/p][p]Meanwhile, AZ confirmed their spot in next year's UEFA Europa League, with a third-place finish now impossible for the Alkmaar side.[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/az-alkmaar-2RxOow1i/feyenoord-8zjySeoN/?mid=Sr8KG9S6"]Check out the full match statistics on Flashscore[/a][/b][/p]