On Wednesday night, Feyenoord and AS Roma battle for the right to be crowned the first-ever Europa Conference League winners. The kick-off in Tirana is at 20.00.

It has been an excellent European campaign for Feyenoord and they are now just one game away from being crowned Europa Conference League winners. It would be the Rotterdam sides first European trophy since they took the UEFA Cup back in 2002.

Standing between Feyenoord and the trophy is AS Roma, who are coached by Jose Mourinho. The Italian side only have one European trophy to their name and that is Inter-Cities Fairs Cup.

Feyenoord finished third in the Eredivisie but excelled in Europe this season, having started in the second qualifying round of the competition. Arne Slot’s side have seen off anyone that stood in their way including Olympique Marseille in the semi-finals.

AS Roma had a disappointing domestic campaign, finishing sixth in Serie A, but a first major European trophy would make it a good campaign. Mourinho’s side started in the playoffs for the competition against Trabzonspor and just overcame Vitesse Arnhem in the last 16 2-1 on aggregate. In the semi-finals, Roma saw off Premier League opposition in Leicester City.

Team News

Feyenoord has been given a huge boost ahead of the game with Justin Bijlow returning to training and he will start the game in goal for Slot’s side.

Cole Bassett is ineligible but other than that, Slot has a full-strength squad to choose from.

Possible Feyenoord line-up: Bijlow, Geertruida, Malacia, Senesi, Treuner, Aursnes, Kokcu, Til, Sinisterra, Nelson, Dessers

Former Feyenoord right-back Rick Karsdorp will come up against his former side but Roma will be without Henrikh Mkhitaryan. Nicolo Zaniolo returned from injury recently and he could be in contention to start.

Possible Roma line-up: Patricio; Mancini, Smalling, Ibanez; Karsdorp, Cristante, Oliveira, Zalewski; Pellegrini, Zaniolo; Abraham

Odds

Feyenoord 41/20 Draw 12/5 AS Roma 13/10

Can Feyenoord lift the Europa Conference League trophy?

What a huge occasion for Feyenoord and for Dutch football this match will be and the Rotterdam side definitely has a chance of taking home the trophy on Wednesday night.

With Luis Sinisterra, Orkun Kokcu, and Cyriel Dessers, Feyenoord has three excellent in-form players, who can cause Roma a lot of problems. Having Justin Bijlow back in goal is also a huge boost for the Dutch side.

Roma has a lot of experienced players and Mourinho has a pedigree of winning major European trophies. It was his Manchester United side that defeated Ajax in the Europa League final only a few years ago. However, Vitesse showed that Roma could be vulnerable earlier in the competition.

Feyenoord will need to settle their nerves on the night but they are definitely capable of coming back with the trophy. Wednesday night could be a night to remember for the club.




admin (14687 Posts)

Follow @Footballoranje_ on Twitter