THE pilot taking PSV Eindhoven back to Holland after a night of grand larceny in north London, described in a four-letter word the key factor in the team: he had “Alex” imprinted on either side of the nose cone of his 737.

Unquestionably, the class player in Eindhoven’s team, the reason why they are now going to Liverpool for the quarter-finals of the Champions League, is this sturdy Brazilian defender, Alex Rodrigo Dias da Costa. Whichever PSV player you talk to points to him as the talent who makes the difference.

“Our defence, with Alex, is as sturdy as a house made of concrete,” says Phillip Cocu, the veteran captain. Both the PSV manager Ronald Koeman, and Alex himself, describe the defender as a Chelsea player “rented out” to the Philips electrics works team that Eindhoven grew out of. The Rental Boy from Brazil, now 24, has been parked at PSV for three seasons while Chelsea wait for him to obtain a European passport.

Possibly the wait will continue until Jose Mourinho departs. He allegedly considered Alex too slow, too error prone to be worth a place in his defence. Error there was on Wednesday when a corner struck the knee of the Brazilian and deflected into his own net; but by the end he had atoned, rising high above the hapless Abou Diaby to head a cross from Ecuador’s Edison Mendez into Arsenal’s net. That, on away goals, was lights out for Arsenal. But can PSV sustain it? Can the club that has immaculate scouting systems continue to change five and six players every summer, switch the coach from Guus Hiddink to Koeman, and still give AC Milan, Arsenal, Liverpool a run for their money? They can, and they do.

Once they dig their way out of the league phase of the tournament, as they did by emerging second to Liverpool, Koeman regards anything as possible in a knockout format.

He, the Dutch defender with the booming shot well remembered by Graham Taylor’s England, has become a coach who has taken three different clubs — Ajax, Benfica and now Eindhoven — to the quarter-finals of a tournament made for the moneyed elite. Koeman does not hide the fact that his method is built on unyielding team ethic.

Yes, Alex is the rock, but when you witness a side shorn of five players including three full-backs - Jan Kromkamp. Michael Reiziger and Manuel da Costa — you see how adaptable the small squad is and how solid their effort is for one another.

If the Champions League were solely about money, then Barcelona and Arsenal would not have been eliminated on English soil this past week. But the tournament reflects life in that attitude can erode the disparity of sheer skill. Liverpool overpowered Ronaldinho and Co in front of an astonishing Anfield crowd that breathed commitment to the end.

Eindhoven tactically ensnared Arsenal, rode their good fortune while the Gunners fired blanks, and through courage and mighty effort came back to outlast Arsenal’s superior touch and movement.

We can no longer talk of the English or the Dutch approach because all of Europe’s top sides now are multicultural. The 22 players who began the contest at the Emirates hailed from 16 nations, and Cocu, now 36, was the only one born in the country which his club represents.

Personnel may be as interchangeable as light bulbs, but philosophies seldom change. The P in PSV might be for pragmatic, but is it any more so than the P in Pool? There used to be a saying in the Anfield boot room that you fight for the right to play, and part of the reason why Arsenal and Barcelona, such flamboyant stylists who reached the final last May, are out is that their opponents denied them time and room. Koeman is not antifootball, indeed his predecessor who built the modern Eindhoven method is not either. They are Dutch, they prefer skill, but above all, they demand application.

Indeed, Koeman’s team squeezed the virtuosity out of Arsenal without brutality, and the Dutch coach was right when he commented that the night’s truly nasty foul came from the least likely culprit, Cesc Fabregas. His lunge at the standing leg of Arouna Kone, the forward partner to Didier Drogba in the Ivory Coast national team, put Kone out of the game before half-time with ligament damage.

PSV’s response was not vengeful, rather to regroup behind a single front runner, to stifle Arsenal still further and wait for the opportunity that came through Arsenal’s indiscipline. It was not youth, but frustration that betrayed them.

Alexander Hleb had no need to grab at Sun Xiang’s shirt late in the game and in the corner of the field and from the expertly curled free kick, Alex headed Arsenal out of the competition.

Liverpool, having drawn 0-0 at the Philips stadium and beaten PSV 2-0 at Anfield earlier in the season, know they must match Eindhoven’s patience and organised resistance. “I would have preferred to play another club,” admitted Koeman, “because we have already met Liverpool and they will not underestimate us. Liverpool are tough, they play a defensive game like we do. It will be a hell of a job, and it will be important to get a good result in our own stadium.” The resistance has already begun.

Euro pedigree

PSV Eindhoven:
League position 1st
European Cup best winners
CL 2006-7 P8 W4 D2 L2 F8 A7
Top scorer Alex and Arouna Kone (2)

Liverpool:
League position 3rd
European Cup best Winners (5)
CL 2006-7 P10 W6 D2 L2 F16 A9
Top scorer Peter Crouch (5)