Now that Feyenoord is well on its way to the first national title since 2017, the team of coach Arne Slot can slowly dream of Champions League football again. The team from Rotterdam would currently enter pot 3 in a draw, but Manchester City could still change that. When the Citizens win both the national title and the Champions League this season, Feyenoord automatically moves on to pot 1 when the championship is won.
That makes the crucial Premier League cracker between City and Arsenal on Wednesday evening also an important game for Feyenoord. When manager Pep Guardiola’s team manages to win at home, the chance of a new national title is considerable. City then comes to 73 points, two less than Arsenal, but also has a game in hand. When City wins the make-up game against West Ham United on May 3, they will be the Gunners lost their lead.
When City then manages to win the national title, Guardiola’s team must also win the Champions League to do Feyenoord a service. City would end up in pot 1 as the winner of the billion dollar ball anyway, so that the ticket from the national champion of England moves to the champion of country 7 in the coefficient ranking. Currently that is the Netherlands, where Feyenoord is no less than eight points ahead of closest attacker PSV. With a place in pot 1, the champion of the Netherlands, most likely Feyenoord, would avoid the champions of other major countries.
In the Champions League, City must first deal with Real Madrid. If that succeeds, the English will qualify for the final in Istanbul, where AC Milan and Internazionale qualify as other semi-finalists. If City wins the Champions League final and the Premier League, Feyenoord therefore has a more favorable starting position in the group stage of the billion-dollar ball. It is therefore likely that not only Slot, the well-known idol of Guardiola, will cheer for City on Wednesday, but many Feyenoord fans will also hope that the Manchester club will win against Arsenal.