Feyenoord can qualify tomorrow evening for the round of 32 of the Europa League, securing European football after winter for the first time since 2006-07, however they have to beat title holder and group leader Sevilla.
- By Bas Vos
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Feyenoord won’t look fondly to the reverse fixture in Spain, being beaten 2-0 and blown off the pitch by Sevilla. However, their form has improved since, not losing a European home match since the 30th of July (1-2 v Besiktas) and not losing a domestic home match since the 21st of September (0-1 v Ajax), three days after the match in Seville. The Wall of Feyenoord is still doing its job superbly, yet to concede an away goal in the Eredivisie, though it has been missing an important man for the last three weeks: Luke Wilkshire. He is doubtful for tomorrow, but will surely return next Sunday. Rick Karsdorp played in his spot for the last few weeks, but the last training session this morning hinted that Khalid Boulahrouz might start tomorrow
Though Feyenoords form is going well, the main problem is scoring. The striker in the starting XI, Colin Kazim-Richards, only scored three goals so far, while Mitchell Te Vrede, the striker on the bench, has scored eight goals this season in all competitions. Questions around Rotterdam of putting Te Vrede in the starting XI continues to grow, but coach Fred Rutten will keep trust in Kazim tomorrow.
Feyenoord qualifies for the knock-out phase of the Europa League if they beat the 5th-placed team in La Liga and Standard Liège fails to beat HNK Rijeka in Croatia. But they need to play different to what they did in September. But a win can happen, because Feyenoord have really improved since.
Other news from the doctor is that Manu is ruled out for tomorrow because of his groin injury.
Possible Feyenoord XI: Vermeer; Boulahrouz (or Karsdorp), Van Beek, Kongolo, Nelom; Clasie (captain), Immers, El Ahmadi; Toornstra, Kazim-Richards, Boëtius.
Absentees: Lopes Cabral (knee). Uncertain: Mathijsen (calf), Wilkshire (hamstring).
Sevilla had a weekend to forget. A run of not winning a La Liga match since the 26th of October continued with a 5-1 defeat at FC Barcelona last Sunday, with a hattrick from Messi. They have yet to win an away match this season, only drawing against Rijeka (2-2, with a Rijeka goal in injury time) and Standard (0-0).
And the fact that three players are injured isn’t putting a smile on the face of coach Unai Emery either. Iborra, Navarro and Trémoulinas are all ruled out for tomorrow. He said on the press conference, just two hours ago: “This is our third away game in the tournament this season. The first two, at Rijeka and Standard Liège, ended in draws. It wasn’t easy and Feyenoord will be more of the same. A lot has changed since two months ago. Feyenoord have become much stronger.”
With that in mind, it could be a very interesting match to watch.
Possible Sevilla XI: Beto; Coke, Pareja, Carriço, Figueiras, Banega, Mbia, Deulofeu, Suárez, Vitolo, Bacca.
Absentees: Iborra (ankle), Navarro (foot), Trémoulinas (unspecified).
Kick-off: 19:00 CET
Stadium: Stadion Feijenoord (De Kuip)
Capacity: 51.117
Tickets sold: around 40.000
Ticket allocation for Sevilla fans: 0 (Sevilla refused any tickets)
Referee: Slavko Vinčić (Slovenia)
Misses next match if booked: Immers, Nelom (Feyenoord), Mbia, Navarro (Sevilla)
Prediction: Feyenoord 1-1 Sevilla.
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Why did Sevilla not want tickets?
Security reasons, they said. But I didn’t recieved any signals that Feyenoord fans wanted to attack them, so I find that hard to believe.