Arne Slot is particularly pleased with the turf in the Stadio Olimpico. The coach of Feyenoord will face AS Roma in the return of the quarterfinals of the Europa League on Thursday and feared that the turf would be bad, just like in September, when the team from Rotterdam played against Lazio. However, the opposite appears to be true, Slot concludes. “It really is a beautiful field to play on.”
Feyenoord has to defend its 1-0 victory in Rome last week. However, Slot does not have the best memories of the stadium, as Lazio led 3-0 after half an hour of play earlier this season. Feyenoord lost 4-2, but eventually managed to finish top of the group and reach the quarter finals. Slot’s biggest concern when entering the Stadio Olimpico was the turf, which was not in good condition against Lazio. “I was very curious what the field would look like, because the field was very bad last time we were here,” says Slot at Wednesday’s press conference. “I went to the field as soon as possible to assess that. It’s a great turf.”
“I think they changed the pitch over time, because it really is a beautiful field to play on,” the coach continues his praise. “When I got into the dressing room there were still a few moments going through my head from that 4-2 defeat earlier this season.” Everything is different in mid-April, now that the semi-final beckons. Slot knows, however, that Feyenoord can expect a tough evening. Roma convincingly won 3-0 against Udinese last weekend. Still, Slot does not think that a defensive tactic is the best choice on Thursday evening. “I think everyone who knows me knows that the best way to defend is still having the ball. Especially in the phase where we had difficulties last week, we had no control over the ball.” Roma then came close to scoring several times, but did not score.
Wieffer
Mats Wieffer scored the only goal of the match in the first leg. The midfielder scored beautifully after a cross from Oussama Idrissi. During that meeting in De Kuip, Paulo Dybala was injured. It is still unclear whether the star player of the Romans will be fit enough to kick off. “They have enough good players,” concludes Wieffer, who will be on edge on Thursday. “Dybala is a very good player, but they have plenty of other players who do what they have to do. When he was out last week, players came in who were perhaps even more dangerous. I think it doesn’t matter who is in, they are just very good as a team. Tomorrow they have to win, so it will be difficult.”