Feyenoord’s line-up for the first meeting with IF Elfsborg in the Conference League play-offs has been announced. Alireza Jahanbakhsh returns to the starting line-up after he was missing on Sunday in the away match against Willem II (0-4). Because asset Fredrik Aursnes is not eligible to play, Jens Toornstra returns to midfield. The meeting with Elfsborg, which currently occupies fourth place in the Swedish league, will start at 8 p.m. in De Kuip.
Trainer Arne Slot acknowledged during the closing press conference on Wednesday that he was content with the return of Jahanbakhsh. “He participated in everything yesterday and that looked good,” said the coach. “Today I have not spoken to anyone from the medical staff that it is wrong. I expect him at the kick-off.” With those words Slot more or less revealed his basic line-up, as the Feyenoord trainer has been starting with the same eleven players for weeks. Aursnes already played on behalf of Molde in the Conference League this season and has to drop the game for that reason. After the preliminary rounds, he can be registered by Feyenoord.
Feyenoord is a favorite against Elfsborg, but Slot watches out for the current number four in Sweden. “Elfsborg has won eight of his last ten matches and drawn two. They are just below Malmö FF in terms of points, who play in the Champions League play-offs. Jesper Karlsson played there until recently, that’s a good player. ” Slot already has the battle plan ready. “Hopefully impose our will on the opponent by being dominant on the ball. We have to prevent counters, we have been paying attention to that for weeks. In recent weeks, we have shown that in the past five or six duels, we have given away few opportunities.”
Feyenoord is very keen to advance to the group stage of the Conference League, as the club currently has limited financial resources. For both Feyenoord and Vitesse, 2.94 million euros in starting money is ready for participation in the third European tournament. If Feyenoord qualify, the budget will immediately be raised to more than seventy million euros. The club from Rotterdam South is still looking for a striker, but due to the current situation, it depends on opportunities. It is therefore questionable whether that new goalscorer will come. Until then, Bryan Linssen is preferred.
Line-up Feyenoord: Bijlow; Pedersen, Trauner, Senesi, Malacia; Toornstra, Kökçü, Til; Jahanbakhsh, Linssen, Sinisterra.
IF Elfsborg line-up: Ronning; Larsson, Väisänen, McVey, Strand, Römer, Holst, Gojani; Alm, Frick, Okkels.