Feyenoord can be proud of what it showed on Wednesday against Atlético Madrid (3-2 loss). That is the opinion of the Dutch newspapers. The magazines saw the Rotterdammers defend themselves bravely and conclude that they have only been trumped in effectiveness by the Spanish opponent. Diego Simeone’s ‘limp hand’ to Arne Slot afterwards was indicative in that respect, or so it sounds.
Feyenoord took the lead twice in Cívitas Metropolitano, but still lost due to a double around half time (goalscorers: Álvaro Morata and Antoine Griezmann). Wing attacker Yankuba Minteh can partly be blamed for this, writes Valentijn Driessen on behalf of The Telegraph.
“Yankuba Minteh wasted two sure goals,” said Driessen. “Especially the one-on-one situation with goalkeeper Jan Oblak should have resulted in a deserved 3-3. Where the Gambian showed himself so cool-headed on Saturday face to face with Go Ahead Eagles keeper Jeffrey de Lange; in Metropolitano Oblak came emerged as the winner of the battle.”
According to Driessen, the lack of effectiveness was ‘the only thing that killed the Rotterdammers’ in Madrid. Mikos Gouka from it Algemeen Dagblad shares that observation. The latter watched Simeone’s reaction after the match with special interest.
“Thousands of supporters eventually saw that Simeone with clenched fists, after a weak hand to Slot, dived into the tunnel after the final whistle of the Frenchman François Letexier,” Gouka writes. “Full speed back against the Eredivisie champion? It will all be fine, the Argentinian must have thought.” Bart Vlietstra de Volkskrant zooms in at the same time. “Shaking his head, Simeone dived into the catacombs after shaking Slot’s hand quickly. He knew he had gotten away well.”
Excellent Zerrouki
Vlietstra is curious about what the situation would be if both teams had entered with their strongest eleven. Of all the ‘B choices’, he was most surprised by Ramiz Zerrouki. “He was the best of the midfielders, with mature choices with and without the ball and sometimes a functional gate. Quite striking, because Zerrouki was only in the starting line-up once at Feyenoord and was then quickly replaced. Wieffer and Timber have enormous physical and technical strengths. possibilities, but often still lack peace of mind.”
After two matches, there is still hope for a Champions League win at Feyenoord. The Rotterdam team is third with three points, behind Atlético and Lazio, who both collected four points. Celtic, the team against which Feyenoord managed to win (2-0), did not score a single point.