again. PSV, however, suffered in the second half of the season, also because of injuries of players Jefferson Farfán, Alex and Ibrahim Afellay, obtaining only 19 out 39 possible points. Alkmaar and Ajax regained their momentum, making for a close finish, with all three teams tied at 72 points before the last competition day. Alkmaar played struggling Excelsior in their final match, but did not manage to win. Ajax played at Willem II, but did not score enough goals; it was PSV eventually who triumphed, winning at home 5–1 against Vitesse, and thereby becoming Eredivisie champions, one goal ahead of Ajax. For the second consecutive season he guided a team to the quarter-finals of the Champions League, this time defeating another English club in the shape of Arsenal in the first knockout stage by an aggregate score of 2–1, before losing 4–0 on aggregate to eventual runners-up Liverpool in the quarter-finals. Valencia On 31 October 2007, Koeman agreed to be the new coach of Valencia after the sacking of Quique Sánchez Flores, starting on 5 November 2007. With Valencia, he won the 2007–08 Copa del Rey, a tournament he previously won as a player with Barcelona. This was Valencia's first Copa del Rey since 1999. The remainder of his tenure at Valencia would prove disappointing: the team would slump to 15th in the league, only two points above the relegation zone, as well as finishing bottom of their Champions League group. A 1–5 defeat by Athletic Bilbao would prove the final straw for Koeman's time with Valencia. He was sacked the following day, on 21 April 2008. AZ Alkmaar Koeman was appointed manager of AZ Alkmaar on 18 May 2009, after Louis van Gaal, who won the 2008–09 Eredivisie with Alkmaar, joined Bayern Munich. On 5 December 2009, Alkmaar announced that Koeman no longer was in charge of the club, after losing 7 of the first 16 games in the Dutch competition. Feyenoord On 21 July 2011, Koeman was appointed manager of Feyenoord, signing a one-year contract with the Dutch club as replacement for outgoing trainer Mario Been. Through this appointment, Koeman notably became the first individual ever to serve as both player and head coach at all teams of the so-called "traditional big three" of Dutch football – Ajax, PSV and Feyenoord. Moreover, he has completed this in the same order as player and as manager. At the beginning