Saturday, March 18, 2023 at 08:34• Mart Oude Nijeweeme • Last update: 08:39

Wim Kieft thinks that Feyenoord will be the new champion of the Eredivisie with a victory over Ajax next Sunday. The 1988 European champion writes in his latest column The Telegraph that the European match of the team from Rotterdam against Shakhtar Donetsk (7-1) has no influence on the Classic. The team of trainer Arne Slot has only fueled self-confidence, says Kieft.

Feyenoord left Shakhtar unscathed on Thursday and, thanks to Orkun Kökçu (two goals), Oussama Idrissi (two goals), Santiago Giménez, Danilo and Alireza Jahanbakhsh, headed for a resounding victory. “The good game and the passion now also translated into goals,” concludes Kieft. “Kökçü was the eye-catcher and great leader for me. Under Arne Slot he started doing a lot more work, delivers a lot of physical, but especially football to his team and scores regularly.”

Still, Kieft would have preferred that Kökçü had left his second goal, a striking penalty kick, to Giménez. “It would have been nice for Giménez if Kökçü had awarded the penalty to the Mexican with the 2-0 lead,” said Kieft. “Those moments give strikers extra confidence and they take that with them to the series of matches in which the prizes are distributed. Giménez makes a good opening goal, where he saw exactly where the space was. He has shown that before and characterizes the good striker .”

Earlier this season, Giménez claimed the penalty kick in the away match against Lazio. The Mexican took the ball from Kökçü and then built it himself from eleven meters. The captain of Feyenoord was not happy with that action and afterwards received an apology from his teammate. “I should have respected the captain,” Gimenez added Fox Sports Mexico. “In Mexico I learned that as a striker you have to take the penalties. That you had to grab the ball and not let go. This is a different culture, I still have a lot to learn.”