Feyenoord are looking for their first European away win in 2,261 days against the already eliminated Standard Liège, in the last match of the Europa League group stage.
- By Bas Vos
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For this match, only a group win, € 400.000, and coefficient points are up for grabs for Feyenoord, since they have already qualified for the round of 32 after the great win against Sevilla two weeks ago. Though this game seems not so important (an already qualified team against an already eliminated team), Fred Rutten disagrees.
Rutten told a press conference, “We takes this match very seriously. If we win, we win the group, meaning a seeding in the round of 32 draw. I won’t let anyone take a rest, but I will if I see signs that they need it.”
El Ahmadi and Nelom did not take the bus with the team to Belgium, since they are one booking away of a one-match ban. This makes the way for left-back Lucas Woudenberg, a 20-year old Academy graduate who was on loan at Excelsior last season. This will be his debut in the first team. Tonny Vilhena will probably take the spot of El Ahmadi in the midfield.
Luke Wilkshire is back in the team after his injury, but this morning, Feyenoord announced that Mathijsen is injured again, having recovered from his calf injury earlier. It is not known what kind of injury he has now.
If Feyenoord wins, their total European revenue (fines, market pools and stadium income not counted) will rise to € 2.7 million, and although they are out of debt, every euro extra that can be obtained is still welcome in the treasury.
Possible Feyenoord XI: Vermeer; Wilkshire, Van Beek, Kongolo, Woudenberg; Clasie (captain), Immers, Vilhena; Toornstra, Kazim-Richards, Boëtius.
Absentees: Lopes Cabral (knee), Mathijsen (unspecified injury), El Ahmadi, Nelom (both will miss next match if booked)
The European adventure of Standard Liège turned out to be a disaster. It looked good from the start, beating Panathinaikos in the third qualifying round of the Champions League, but then they got crushed by Zenit Saint Petersburg in the play-offs, and ultimately they are eliminated in a group with Feyenoord, Sevilla and HNK Rijeka with one match to play. According to a Belgian newspaper, they take the league match against leaders Club Brugge much more seriously, and manager Ivan Vukomanović will give youngsters and players who haven’t played recently a chance.
The domestic league isn’t going as planned for Standard either, as is visible underneath.
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | G | P |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dender | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 8 | +4 | 11 |
| 2 | Anderlecht | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 3 | +4 | 11 |
| 3 | Club Brugge | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 6 | +3 | 10 |
| 4 | Westerlo | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 11 | +2 | 10 |
| 5 | Genk | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 8 | +1 | 10 |
| 6 | Oud-Heverlee Leuven | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 4 | +4 | 10 |
| 7 | Charleroi | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 8 | +0 | 9 |
| 8 | Union Saint-Gi… | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 5 | +2 | 9 |
| 9 | Mechelen | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 10 | +0 | 8 |
| 10 | Standard Liège | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | -1 | 8 |
| 11 | Antwerp | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 6 | +3 | 7 |
| 12 | Gent | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 5 | +2 | 7 |
| 13 | Kortrijk | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 8 | -3 | 7 |
| 14 | Cercle Brugge | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 10 | -4 | 4 |
| 15 | Sint-Truidense VV | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 15 | -9 | 3 |
| 16 | Beerschot | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 14 | -8 | 1 |
As the pressure is very high on him, Vukomanović must oversee a recovery if he doesn’t want to have the same fate as his predecessor Guy Luzon, who was sacked.
Possible Standard Liège XI: Kawashima; Teixira, Ciman (captain), Fiore, Andrade; Faty, Enoh, De Sart; Lumanza, Ono, Watt.
Absentees: Arslanagic (suspended), Marquet (ill), Viera (hamstring), Vinicius (unspecified injury)
Kick-off: 21:05 CET
Stadium: Stade Maurice Dufrasne (Sclessin)
Capacity: 30,023
Tickets sold: about 10,000
Away allocation for Feyenoord fans: 1,400 (sold-out, bus shuttle from Rotterdam to the stadium mandatory. No Feyenoord fans allowed in the city of Liège)
Referee: Alon Yefet (Israel)
Misses next match if booked: Immers (Feyenoord), De Sart, Mpoku, Trebel (Standard Liège)
Prediction: Standard Liège 0-2 Feyenoord.
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