The miners got a difficult opponent
In the 1/8 finals of the Europa League, Shakhtar will play with Feyenoord. The draw was relatively favorable to the Pitmen, who could have come across Arsenal and Betis at this stage of the tournament. However, you can’t call it completely successful either – now the Rotterdam club is a rather dangerous opponent, with a good and young squad, an interesting coach and great ambitions. We tell you what you need to know about Feineord.
When was the last time Feyenoord took the title
Feyenoord is one of the most titled clubs in the Netherlands. His collection includes 15 league titles, 13 national cups, the European Champions Cup, two UEFA Cups and the Intercontinental Cup.
True, Feineord achieved the last serious success in the 2016/2017 season, winning the national championship. A year later, the club from Rotterdam took the Dutch Cup.
How Feyenoord played last season
In the national championship, the club from Rotterdam took third place, 12 points behind the champion – Ajax, ten – from finishing second PSV. Bronze gave Feyenoord the opportunity to start in the group stage of the Europa League this season.
In the Dutch Cup, Feyenoord was knocked out in his first match, losing in the second round to Twente.
Much more successful was the case for the team in the Conference League. Feyenoord, starting from the second qualifying round, reached the final, where they lost minimally to Roma (0:1).
Arne Slovo’s team eliminated Drita from Kosovo, Lucerne from Switzerland and Elfsborg from Sweden in qualifying. In the group, she scored 14 points (four wins and two draws) in the company with Maccabi from Haifa, Slavia and Union. In the playoffs of the Conference League, Feyenoord passed the Serbian Partizan, all the same Slavia and Marseille. As a result, out of 19 matches in the tournament, the team from Rotterdam won 12, drew five in two – lost. Feyenoord’s top scorer was Luis Sinistera, who moved to Leeds – 11 goals in 18 games played.
How Feyenoord is playing this season
After 22 rounds, Feyenoord leads the Eredivisie. The team has 49 points, three more than second-placed Ajax. Of the 22 matches in the championship, Feyenoord won 14, seven ended in a draw. The team has one defeat against PSV in the liabilities side.
Better things in the Cup of the country. Feyenoord went two rounds, beating Zwolle and Nijmegen to reach the quarter-finals.
In the Europa League, the Rotterdam team took first place in their quartet with Lazio, Stur and Midtjylland. True, a unique situation has developed in the group: all four clubs scored eight points each, the Dutch and Danish teams reached the playoffs of the Europa League, Lazio went to the Conference League. Feyenoord has two victories in the group – over Sturm and Lazio, two defeats – from them, and two draws with Midtjylland.
What you need to know about the composition of Feyenoord
According to Transfermarkt, the total cost of the club from Rotterdam is 149.3 million euros. This is third in the league after Ajax (275.2m) and PSV (184.35m). For comparison, the composition of Shakhtar is estimated at 78.9 million euros.
Feyenoord’s most valuable player is 22-year-old Turkish midfielder Orkun Kekcu (27 million euros). The portal estimates Poland midfielder Sebastian Szymanski at 14 million euros. At 13 – 23-year-old goalkeeper of the Netherlands national team Justin Beilo. Shakhtar has the most expensive Trubin and Matvienko – 11 million euros each.
See also: Trubin: Shakhtar was a team of warriors who did not want to lose
Feyenoord has five players valued at more than 10 million euros. Shakhtar has two such players.
Feyenoord has 16 foreign players, Shakhtar has five foreign players. But according to the collections, the two clubs have almost parity: 11 for Feyenoord, nine for Shakhtar.
Who to pay attention to in the composition of Feyenoord
Feyenoord is a young team, the average age is 24.5 years. It is not surprising that among the leaders are young and, hopefully, promising players. The team’s best sniper this season is 23-year-old Brazilian striker Danilo (11 goals in all competitions). The already mentioned Kekchu scored 10 goals, Shimansky – seven.
Stands out and 21-year-old Mexican Santiago Jimenez (15 goals), who came in the summer from Cruz Azul for 4 million euros.
How Feyenoord spent his transfer periods
For two transfer windows, the club “earned” “clean” more than 35 million euros. At the same time, Feyenoord lost many, as it seemed, key players. Sinisterra was sold to Leeds for 25 million euros. Bournemouth bought Marco Senesi for €15m and Manchester United bought Tyrela Malasia. For 13 million euros, the Norwegian Aursnes left for Benfica.
Purchases were modest. Jimenez is mentioned above, and the most expensive acquisition was the transfer from Utrecht for 7.5 million euros midfielder of the youth team Quentin Timber. Feyenoord paid 5 million euros for the Brazilian Igor Paixao, 6.5 million – paid Slavia for midfielder David Gantsko. For the same 4 million euros, the club returned home from Hertha forward Javairo Dirlosun, who was considered very promising.
Who trains Feyenoord
44-year-old Arne Sloth is a godsend of the Rotterdam club management. The specialist, who previously worked with AZ Alkmaar, led the team in the summer of 2021. During this time, as mentioned above, Feyenoord won the bronze of the national championship, reached the final of the Conference League and is in the lead in the current season of the Eredivisie. Slot, by the way, has a rather high score – 2.07 on average per match.
How Feyenoord played with Shakhtar
The Pitmen crossed paths with the Rotterdam team relatively recently – in the group stage of the Champions League of the 2017/2018 season. Then Shakhtar won both matches. In Rotterdam, the Pitmen won 2-1 (double scored by Bernard), conditionally at home – 3-1 (double by Ferreira, another goal scored by Marlos).
Pyatov, Rakitskiy and Stepanenko played from the current Shakhtar squad in the first match against Feyenoord. Zubkov came on as a substitute, and Rakitsky, by the way, was sent off for two warnings. In the second leg, Pyatov and Stepanenko were also in the Pitmen’s starting lineup.
In the group, Shakhtar finished second, behind Manchester City, Feyenoord finished last. The Dutch finished the group stage with three points, having won one victory over Napoli.
How Feyenoord played with Ukrainian clubs
The Rotterdam team crossed paths with Dynamo twice. For the first time – at the group stage of the Champions League season 2002/2003. Then Dynamo won at home and drew away.
Feyeneord and Dynamo crossed paths for the second time in the 2012/2013 season in the Champions League qualification. In Kyiv, Dynamo won 2:1, in Rotterdam – 1:0. The hero of those fights is the blue-and-white striker Brown Ideye, who scored a goal in each of the matches.
Played with Feyenoord and Zarya. At first, the Rotterdam club did not let the Luhansk team into the group stage of the tournament – 1:1 at home and 3:4 defeat of Zorya away. And later he did not allow the Luhansk team to win in the group: in Ukraine Feyenoord defended a draw (1:1), at home he got a minimal victory (1:0).
When will Feyenoord play Shakhtar in the Europa League?
The Pitmen will play the first match of the 1/8 finals of the tournament at their nominally home stadium in Warsaw on 9 March. The return game will be held in a week – March 16 – in Rotterdam.
Source: Sportarena
I’m Scott Moore, a professional writer and journalist based in the US. I’ve been writing for various publications for over 8 years now, and have been working as an author at athletistic for the past five years. My work has been featured by some of the leading sports websites and magazines across Europe.
