It has been an agonising 17 year wait since Feyenoord last lifted the Eredivisie trophy. They have since had to settle for second, third and fourth place finishes ever since, while domestic rivals PSV Eindhoven and Ajax set about dominating Dutch football.
Yet, they have made an unexpected dash for the title this season, pulling five points ahead of second-placed Ajax and eight ahead of PSV, with the mid-season break now upon up. Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side now have a month to rest and relax before the Eredivisie action recommences, knowing that if they stay fit and keep up their stellar form, their long wait for a league title will finally come to an end.
Feyenoord crashed out of the Europa League, after finishing third behind Manchester City and Fenerbahce in Group A, just before they broke up for the winter break. While it seemed like a huge disappointment at the time, particularly so given their exceptional form in the league, it could be a blessing in disguise for the Dutch club.
Of course, challenging in Europe is important for the club going forward, but winning the title should be their priority this season and potential clashes against the likes of Manchester United, Roma or Tottenham would have taken their focus away from the league.
There has been little rotation in Van Bronckhorst’s squad selections over the first half of the season, so the first choice 11 will be happy to get some time off over the winter break. Fitness can play a massive role in the title run-in and tiredness and subsequent injuries can bring a title challenge crashing down at the last hurdle. With no mid-week continental football to distract them, they will have more time to prepare for their league matches. Likewise, they will also have plenty of time to rest and recover between each fixture.
They overcame a number of challenges that few people expected them to throughout the first half of the season and, while blips are to be expected, there is little for Feyenoord to worry about throughout the second half of the campaign.
The defeat to Go Ahead Eagles was disappointing. Yet, it's hardly surprising that it came just three days after their Europa League clash with Zorya Luhansk. Likewise, it was their only defeat of the campaign so far and they have made the points up elsewhere, having recorded a home draw against Ajax and an away victory over PSV, in games that could have easily resulted in defeat.
With current champions PSV struggling, Ajax are most likely to overtake Feyenoord. However, Peter Bosz’s side have a tough run-in, in which they face Feyenoord, AZ Alkmaar, PSV and Heerenveen in the final few weeks of the season, which is likely to trip them up at some stage.
Feyenoord, on the other hand, still have remaining games against both Ajax and PSV and six points is far from guaranteed from those games. Yet, they have the best goalscoring total in the league and are second lowest for goals conceded. If they can keep up their form for the remainder of the competition, they will walk to the Eredivisie title this season, ending 17 years of near misses.