CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Hirving ‘Chucky’ Lozano targeting success with PSV Eindhoven
The winger spoke about his return to the Netherlands, Champions League ambitions and plans to return to Mexico one day.
PSV Eindhoven return to Champions League action on Tuesday night against Borussia Dortmund.
The Dutch side emerged from a group that included Arsenal and Europa League holders Sevilla and they have impressed in domestic competition. After 22 games, PSV have won 20 and drawn two of their 2023/24 Eredivisie fixtures.
Last summer Mexican international Hirving ‘Chucky’ Lozano returned to Eindhoven. He had starred for the club from 2017-2019 before moving to Italian side Napoli. After four years in Naples, Lozano told Dutch publication Eindhoven Dagblad that he was eager to return.
“I’m proud to be back in Eindhoven. This is a place that will forever feel like my second home,” he said.
Lozano was involved in PSV’s title-winning 2017/18 campaign and looks back fondly on those memories: “That was incredible and I want to it again. It is possible this season because we have been able to make quite a gap [at the top of the league].”
“Still, we have to remain vigilant, because the road is still long. And we also want to achieve something nice in the Champions League. After all, that’s the showcase that the whole soccer world looks at and you want to be part of.”
‘Chucky’ Lozano planning Mexico return
Lozano was just 21 years old when he first left Mexico to pursue a career in Europe. He had led Pachuca to the CONCACAF Champions League and ended as the competition’s Golden Boot winner.
Since then he has become a mainstay of the Mexican national team and a hero to his compatriots. He admits that a return to Mexico is on the agenda in the future.
“I’m going back to Mexico with my family in the distant future, that’s for sure. We want to live our lives there later, but as a footballer you live in the moment and right now I am fully engaged with PSV,” he explained.
“People work here who are really interested in you as a person and that’s why I wanted to go back.”
Lozano struggled for game time at the start of this season and he did not have the immediate impact that many would have expected. However an injury to Noa Lang has given Lozano greater opportunities and he could well feature from the start on Tuesday.