Feyenoord’s Champions League hopes hang in the balance after a 2-1 defeat by Besiktas at De Kuip.
- By Michael Bell
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Feyenoord obviously weakened with the loss of key players Stefan de Vrij, Bruno Martins Indi, Daryl Janmaat, and Graziano Pelle, started the match brightly, with Jean Paul Boetius causing problems on the left wing earl on.
However on eleven minutes Besiktas opened the scoring when Pektemek was left unmarked from a corner to head past Erwin Mulder, and hand the Turk’s a huge advantage.
Feyenoord dominated the possession, but failed to create any clear cut chances, with the final ball in dangerous area’s particularly poor from Boetius and Wesley Verhoek. The only real chance on goal in the first half was an effort fired wide from Boetius.
Twenty minutes from the end Feyenoord were hit by another sucker-punch when debutante Khalid Boulahrouz deflected a weak shot into his own net to hand Besiktas a 2-0 lead.
Lex Immers saw a header brilliantly tipped over the bar, before Elvis Manu was brought down in the box in injury time to earn Feyenoord a penalty. Striker Mitchell te Vrede, who was isolated for most of the night, calmly slotted the spot kick home to give Feyenoord hope going into the second leg.
The result was too be expected with Feyenoord selling four of their star players in recent weeks without bringing in any replacement’s yet, but they will look back on tonight as an opportunity missed. Besiktas were efficient in front of goal, but for most of the night barely troubled the Feyenoord back four, and if the final ball had been better, the result could have been much different.
Feyenoord will now travel to Turkey next week knowing they need to score at least two goals, if they are to have any chance of progressing to the play-off round. However it is now more likely that Feyenoord are heading out of the Champions League, and into the fourth qualifying round of the Europa League.
Another disappointing night in Europe for a Dutch side.
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Saw the 1st goal and turned it off. What’s the point in aiming for a top table position if you can’t keep your players once they get there. Eredivisie will be another bust in Europe AGAIN.