Arne Slot announced the line-up of Feyenoord on Wednesday afternoon for the last Conference League game against Maccabi Haifa. The Rotterdammers have to miss Gernot Trauner, Orkun Kökçü, Alreza Jahanbakhsh and Guus Til for various reasons. As a result, Slot has cleared base places for Cyriel Dessers, Mark Diemers and Reiss Nelson, he revealed the day before the meeting with the Israelis.
Trauner and Kökçü are experiencing minor complaints, Slot indicated during the closing press conference. Til has been suspended and Jahanbakhsh is not participating for political reasons. The Iranian also missed the game with Maccabi Haifa, as he otherwise runs the risk of never being allowed to play for his country again. Iran does not recognize Israel and a stamp from the country could cause problems for Iranian athletes. The good news is Justin Bijlow is back under the bar. The goalkeeper had to miss the duels with Slavia Prague, FC Twente, Heracles and Fortuna Sittard due to a positive corona test, but is fit enough to make minutes again.
Slot hopes that the players who get a chance on Thursday evening will make an eager impression. “We are missing a number of players who have minor pains,” Slot said at the press conference. “In addition, I want to let guys make minutes who haven’t played much lately. That ensures that there will be another team on the field tomorrow. I think a number of guys will be on the field tomorrow who really want to let themselves go.” They will feel that they have to. I expect everyone to do their best, as I always expect from guys who put on a Feyenoord shirt.”
The Feyenoord trainer still sees sufficient interests, despite the fact that his team has already been qualified for the next round. “Money is an example of this,” Slot says. “That is why we have chosen not to give rest to everyone who plays normally. If we did, we would end up in the Under 21, because we do not have a selection with which we have doubled all positions. That is why we have a have a rearguard that you’ve seen before this season.”
Line-up Feyenoord: Bijlow; Pedersen, Geertruida, Senesi, Hendriks; Aursnes, Diemers, Teixeira; Nelson, Desserts, Bannis