Feyenoord are through to next season’s Champions League qualifiers after ending second in the Dutch Premier League by beating sc Heerenveen 3-2. Despite their loss, sc Heerenveen still secured a spot in the Europa League due to a curious gap in UEFA's play-offs system.

PSV Eindhoven took third place in the Premier League after securing a 3-1 away victory over Excelsior and will also join the Europa League. As a result of their defeat, Excelsior ended bottom-of-the-league and will be relegated. De Graafschap thrashed ADO Den Haag 5-3 but still ended in 17th spot, meaning they are facing play-off matches to avert relegation.

AZ, title hopefuls for much of the season, ended fourth in the Premier League following a narrow 1-0 home victory over FC Groningen, thus at least securing a ticket to the Europa League.

FC Twente Enschede, who won the league title in 2010 and the Dutch Cup in 2011, completed a disastrous season by losing 4-2 away at VVV-Venlo. Twente ended in sixth place, their worst result in years. The Enschede side are now facing Europa League play-offs. Ending the season in 16th place, VVV-Venlo are now facing relegation matches.
 
Thanks to their 2-1 victory over Heracles Almelo, NEC Nijmegen moved up to eighth spot and on to the Europa League qualifiers. Roda JC failed to get through after losing 1-3 to FC Utrecht. RKC Waalwijk lost 2-3 to NAC but still ended in ninth place, also securing a spot in the play-offs.

Ajax, who became Premier League champions on Wednesday, rounded off the season with a 3-1 away victory over Vitesse. A goal by Nicky Hofs 29 minutes into the first half first put the away side in the lead. But their lead was ephemeral as Dmitri Boelikin equalised just 12 minutes later, and veteran André Ooijer and Jan Vertonghen netting in the second half.

(cl/tt)

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