Arne Slot thinks it is great that Feyenoord is again among the best sixteen teams in the Europa League for the first time in twenty years. “This is a special moment for the club,” he said after the win over Lazio.1-0).
,,We play at a completely different level than last season in the Conference League,” said Slot. ,,If you add the last transfer period, in which we lost a lot of players, I think it is even more special.”
Because FC Midtjylland beat Sturm Graz 2-0, all clubs in group F finished on eight points. Feyenoord became first based on the mutual results and the goal difference. Last week Slot was still angry when Feyenoord lost 1-0 to Sturm Graz. ,,One week is not the other,’ said the trainer. ,,We also needed a good keeper today. Before half time we were already 3-0 behind. Although that was mainly due to his own mistakes.”
Dick Lawyer
Slot praised the character on the squad. ,,That was already the case when Dick Advocaat was a trainer. It’s nice to see that it’s still there. I also saw a statistic recently that Feyenoord is one of the teams that most often comes back from behind.”
Two substitutes made the difference at Feyenoord. Left back Quilindschy Hartman provided the assist to Santiago Giménez’s 1-0. ,,I would be lying if I, as a trainer, wouldn’t like it if two reserves finally decide,’ said Slot, who lost no chance against Lazio (4-2) in September with Feyenoord. “We were much better able to put pressure on them. And also keep control. That is difficult in our own stadium, if we build up from our keeper. Our fans don’t always like that, but sometimes it’s necessary.”
Orkun Kokcu
Feyenoord captain Orkun Kökçü only heard just before time that Feyenoord was on its way to the eighth finals of the Europa League. ,,I asked the trainer two minutes before the end: ‘May we now know what the score is there?’”, said Kökçü. Veronica. ,,Then he said: ‘They are also ahead and 1-0 is enough for us’. Finally the game was over and all the players came to me cheering and saying we had come first. I couldn’t be happier than this.”
In 2002, when Feyenoord was last among the last sixteen clubs at the second European level, the Europa League was still called the UEFA Cup. Feyenoord won that tournament then.
Feyenoord striker Santiago Giménez thanked God frequently after his winning goal. ,,God gave me this goal”, he said in De Kuip. “God doesn’t give presents. God has put the ball there, then you have to stand there.”
The 21-year-old Giménez started as a substitute and scored almost immediately when he came on the field. ,,I felt the energy of the people in the stadium. It helped us fight forward. There is a lot of character in the team.”
It was unclear for a while whether the goal had been approved. The striker himself had no doubts. ,,I hadn’t touched the keeper, I was sure of that. Maybe there was still a question of offside, but that soon turned out not to be the case either. Scoring always gives a special feeling.”
Europa League standings
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