FEYENOORD v AC MILAN: OPPONENT REVIEW

Feyenoord have been amongst Rossoneri talk a lot recently, above all due to our recent signing of their former player Santiago Gimenez. It is now time to get to know their team properly because they will be our opponents in the play-off of this year's Champions League. It will be a two-legged tie - the first will be in The Netherlands, the second at San Siro seven days later. The winner will go through to the Round of 16 of Europe's top football competition. For us, it is the first time we have faced Feyenoord in half a century (our only game against them dates back to the European Cup in 1969/70 which the Red and Whites went on to win). But for our opponents, it is yet another fixture in Europe against Italian opposition. In each of the last three seasons in European competition, Feyenoord have come up against a Serie A side: first against Roma in the Europa League (and in the 2022 Conference League Final), then against Lazio, both in the Champions and Europa League.

Feyenoord always performed well in the lesser European competitions under Arne Slot, and in Brian Priske's first season, the team from Rotterdam managed to get past the first Champions League stage for the first time since 1993/94. Their season has been up and down: they beat Bayern 3-0, they lost to Lille 6-1 away from home, they were knocked out of their domestic cup by PSV, they lost to Farioli's Ajax but, in their most recent match, they won the Rotterdam derby 3-0 against Sparta. Nevertheless, this run of poor results led to Priske's sacking, which has been announced in the last few hours. Pascal Bosschaart has been promoted and will take his place. Feyenoord are currently 5th in the Eredivisie, three points behind 3rd place Utrecht (and with a game in hand), but they are still a way off of the league leaders PSV and Ajax. 

A DEFENSIVELY SHAKEY TEAM, EVEN AT HOME
Out of the 24 teams in the play-offs, Feyenoord stands out as one of the sides with the poorest defensive record. Under Priske, the side from Rotterdam conceded the most goals (21) out of any play-off side and only four teams (Salzburg, Slovan Bratislava, Crvena Zvezda and Young Boys) finished the campaign with a worse record. Their tally is obviously heavily swayed by their landslide defeats against Lille (6-1) and against Bayer Leverkusen (0-4) at home on 19 September. At the hot and fiery De Kuip, the Red and Whites have often been sub-par, also losing to Ajax, Utrecht and RB Salzburg in their only win of the Champions League campaign. Overall, Feyenoord seems to be quite vulnerable in defence, with only five clean sheets in 33 matches and 57 goals conceded across all competitions. 

It's not a flattering figure for a team that don't seem to be too unbalanced offensively in their 4-3-3 formation, in some ways pretty similar to what the Rossoneri have experienced over the last two seasons. The Dutchmen are amongst the worst sides for ball recoveries in this year's Champions League, but the rest of their stats don't really indicate a side that are really struggling defensively. Another of their weaknesses could be their build-up, as their 82.1% completed pass rate is very low for a team that tend to let the opposition play. Only Benfica and Brest have a worse record of the teams still in the competition. Despite this, Feyenoord are pretty clinical, and they convert a good number of their chances. They scored 18 goals in the league phase, putting them in the Top 10 for goals scored so far in the competition.

LIFE AFTER GIMENEZ: ALL EYES ON UEDA AND CARRANZA
In the previous paragraph, we were referencing Feyenoord's goal scoring prowess. Santiago Gimenez was responsible for over a quarter (5/18) of their goals in the Champions League thus far. Santi will return to De Kuip just after scoring his first Rossonero goal against Empoli. Our new signing, who scored 65 goals in 105 appearances, has left big shoes to fill for Ayase Ueda, who has been key for Feyenoord in the Champions League, scoring two goals against Bayern and Benfica. The Japanese star has recently recovered from a muscular injury that kept him out between November and December, and he was rested at the end of their most recent game, substituted for Julián Carranza. The Argentinian striker was signed last summer after playing in the States for both Inter Miami and Philadelphia Union. 

Ueda and Carranza have similar qualities, also close to Gimenez's strengths: they are strikers with personality who are strong despite their ordinary stature. Paixão is also key to the Feyenoord front-three; the right-footed left-winger has got a great record this season (7 goals and 14 assists). Hadj Moussa is also a true asset on the opposite wing. We also have to mention two other factors that are key for the Dutch. The first is the midfielder Hwang, who arrived in Rotterdam at the end of the summer transfer window and has become a key part of the Red and Whites tactical setup. The second is a former Fiorentina player who is the Slovakian defender Hancko who made 5 appearances for the Viola in 2018/19. He is also well known in Europe for his goal in their incredible 3-3 in Manchester against City. He is tenacious and a physical presence, definitely making him a player to watch out for, especially given how well he knows Gimenez.

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