Thursday, March 16, 2023 at 7:08 AM• Mart Oude Nijeweeme • Last update: 07:11

Feyenoord faces two crucial matches in four days. On Thursday evening, the team of trainer Arne Slot will face Shakhtar Donetsk in the eighth final of the Europa League, after which Ajax will wait in the Johan Cruijff ArenA De Classic on Sunday. The leader of the Eredivisie takes a 1-1 draw against the Ukrainians from the first game. Gernot Trauner will probably return to the base for the first time since his injury. That is at the expense of Marcus Pedersen.

Feyenoord can look forward to the return against Shakhtar with confidence. The team from Rotterdam has never lost a European match in De Kuip under Slot. Ten of the twelve matches were won and two ended in a draw. Sixteen times before Feyenoord started a knockout duel in Europe with a draw. In thirteen of those cases, the team managed to straighten it out in-house. With a victory in De Kuip, Feyenoord qualifies for the last eight on Thursday.

Slot cannot yet have access to Quinten Timber (knee injury), Justin Bijlow (wrist injury) and Patrik Walemark (muscle injury) on Thursday and Sunday. The goal is once again defended by Timon Wellenreuther. He envisions a defense with Lutsharel Geertruida, Gernot Trauner, David Hancko and Quilindschy Hartman. Due to Trauner’s base place, Geertruida moves to the right-back position. Pedersen starts on the bench. Compared to the home game with FC Volendam, Danilo and Javaîro Dilrosun also return to the bench.

According to Slot, Trauner is on the right track in his recovery. “Trauner is in very good shape, because he has been fit for a while,” he said during the press conference on Wednesday. “It is also a player who has played a maximum of half an hour in recent weeks. We were very happy that it went well, because it is completely different when you train or play a match. Anyone who has played football knows that the pace is different. Trauner has been out for four months and then you want confirmation that you are still at that level. That’s why it was very good what he showed last week.”

Probable line-up Feyenoord: Wellenreuther; Geertruida, Trauner, Hancko, Hartman; Wieffer, Szymanski, Kökcu; Jahanbakhsh, Gimenez, Idrissi.