Feyenoord faces Roma again, this time in Europa League; next Leverkusen or Union
NOS Football––Customized
Feyenoord will take on AS Roma in the quarterfinals of the Europa League, the club from which it lost last year’s Conference League final. In a possible semifinal, the winner of the duel between Bayer Leverkusen and Union Saint-Gilles awaits.
The Rotterdammers first play at home at De Kuip on April 13 against the club of José Mourinho, Georginio Wijnaldum and Rick Karsdorp. The return is a week later on April 20.
The semifinals will be played on May 11 and 18. The final is on May 31 in Budapest.
Former Hungarian international Zoltán Gera paired the two finalists of the first edition of the Conference League. Roma is currently number five in Serie A, but is emphatically competing for the Champions League spots.
That was different last season, but a 1-0 win over Feyenoord in the Conference League final in Tirana allowed the Romans to secure the Europa League after all.
In the group stage it finished second behind Real Betis, in the intermediate round Roma dealt convincingly with RB Salzburg and Real Sociedad also proved no great obstacle in the eighth finals.
Lock: ‘Beautiful affiche’
“I think it’s a wonderful poster,” Feyenoord coach Arne Slot said of the pairing against Roma. “A great opponent. And we’ve also been to that stadium before this season, although I don’t have such good memories of it.”
With that, Slot was referring to the group game with Lazio (4-2) in a sparsely filled Stadio Olimpico. “Roma have strengthened with players like Dybala, Matic, Belotti and not to mention Wijnaldum. We have undergone a complete metamorphosis. So in that sense, those matches are not comparable.”
Slot happy that draw yielded not United, but AS Roma
Slot wanted nothing to do with revenge for the lost Conference League final. Not yet anyway. “That is very early. Because right now our main focus is on Sunday’s game against Ajax.”
Manchester United against Sevilla
Manchester United, the club of Erik ten Hag, Tyrell Malacia and Wout Weghorst was paired with record winner Sevilla. If United finishes that showdown victoriously, a duel with Juventus or Jerry St. Juste’s Sporting CP may await.
For Feyenoord, the road to a possible final runs through the winner of the duel between Bayer Leverkusen and Belgian surprise Union Sint-Gillis. Leverkusen have four Dutchmen playing with Mitchell Bakker, Jeremie Frimpong, Timothy Fosu-Mensah and Daley Sinkgraven.
In turn, the Brussels revelation features Bart Nieuwkoop, who won the national championship with Feyenoord in 2017.
