After last week’s minimal victory in De Kuip, Feyenoord awaits the last of the two meetings with AS Roma in the quarterfinals of the Europa League on Thursday. With the 1-0 lead, the spoils are still far from being won, but Arne Slot’s team is in any case in a good starting position for the return. Slot probably chooses exactly the same names as in Rotterdam, while José Mourinho still decides not to let Paulo Dybala start.
Due to a unique kind of distance blast from Mats Wieffer, Feyenoord won a 1-0 victory last week. The seasonal revelation is possible, it writes General Journal, also counting on a basic place on Thursday. Wieffer forms a midfield with Sebastian Szymanski and Orkun Kökçü and envisions the attack trio Oussama Idrissi, Santiago Giménez and Alireza Jahanbakhsh. The latter was sacrificed for Igor Paixão against SC Cambuur (0-3) on Sunday, but is now gaining confidence again.
The defense of Quilindschy Hartman, Dávid Hancko, Gernot Trauner and Lutsharel Geertruida remains unchanged in Stadio Olimpico. Just like in De Kuip, Justin Bijlow can start a week earlier and prepare for his third game since his wrist injury at the beginning of February. It seems he need not fear Dybala. Mourinho expressed his doubts about playing the Argentinian at the press conference and now decides to be on the safe side. Nota bene Georginio Wijnaldum plays in his place as a disguised right winger.
With a win, Feyenoord takes revenge almost a year later – and as far as possible – on the lost Conference League final. Roma was also the opponent in this and was 1-0 too strong. In any case, Slot is confident for Thursday. “In September we were completely overrun against Lazio. But we are now further. Physically we are much stronger than then, we last longer, and we also put much better pressure than then,” the coach said at the press conference on Wednesday. The game in the Stadio Olimpico kicks off at 9 p.m. Dutch time and can be seen on Veronica and on ESPN 2.
Probable line-up AS Roma: Rui Patriciao; Mancini, Smalling, Ibanez; Zalewski, Cristante, Matic, Spinazzola; Wijnaldum, Abraham, Pellegrini
Probable line-up Feyenoord: Bijlow; Geertruida, Trauner, Hancko, Hartman; Wieffer, Kökçü; Szymanski; Jahanbakhsh, Gimenez, Idrissi