Feyenoord gets off to an excellent start in the Champions League with a win over nine Celtic | Feyenoord in the Champions League

It was clear halfway through the second half that Feyenoord was going to win against Celtic. After all, Celtic played with nine players after red cards for Gustaf Lagerbielke and Odin Thiago Holm. And the current Feyenoord is capable of making eleven opponents chase the ball, let alone a team with two fewer players on the field.

In the first half the teams kept each other in balance, but in injury time there was suddenly the Rotterdam goal. Quinten Timber had earned a free kick, but the distance to Celtic keeper Joe Hart’s goal was still considerable. Stengs aimed at teammate David Hancko in the wall. The Slovak dove to the side at the last moment, perfectly blocking Hart’s view. The English keeper was then surprised by the bounce and saw Feyenoord take a 1-0 lead.

Stengs celebrated the goal exuberantly. Feyenoord’s attacking midfielder could have signed with Antwerp FC, the Belgian champions, last summer after having already spent a year there on loan. But after yet another message from Slot, he decided to return to the Netherlands. His performances against Fortuna Sittard and Sparta were anything but impressive, but Stengs showed himself more and more in recent weeks. Against Celtic this initially involved a lot of running and putting pressure on the Scots in the right way, who tried to build up just as risky as Feyenoord in De Kuip. The spaces were small, the pace high and the opportunities scarce.

But Stengs’ free kick changed everything. In part two Celtic had to take more risks. Slot knew that with the speed of Igor Paixão and the tireless Yankuba Minteh, he had weapons to hurt the Scots. Celtic of course also had that speed with the Japanese Kyogo Furuhashi and Daizen Maeda and the Honduran Luis Palma up front. But before the break, only Maeda had escaped once after Hancko lost the ball. His slider was expertly saved by Timon Wellenreuther. Before Stengs’ striking strike, Feyenoord only came dangerously close to Celtic’s goal once. Minteh’s shot seemed to hit the hand of defender Greg Taylor, but referee Irfan Peljto found that all less exciting than the supporters and Feyenoord’s reserve bench.

But Stengs’ free kick gave Feyenoord the push it needed at a perfect moment. After the break, Igor Paixão seemed to decide the match. The Brazilian was sent towards the goal by a clever ball from Stengs. Defender Gustaf Lagebielke floored the attacker with a kind of stranglehold, received his second yellow card and saw Peljto point to the spot. Paixão saw his weak effort saved by Hart. A little later, Celtic were even able to continue with nine players after a foul by Odin Thiago Holm on Mats Wieffer, which immediately resulted in a red card. Lutsharel Geertruida scored against nine men, but VAR canceled the goal due to offside.

The only downer was the withdrawal of Ivanusec, who suffered a sprained ankle and had to leave the field on a stretcher. However, the win was no longer in danger because substitute Alireza Jahanbakhsh hit the target. It meant a celebrating Kuip and immediately a big shot of adrenaline for the reigning national champion towards next Sunday when the Classic is completed in Amsterdam. Errant Ajax against Feyenoord, bursting with self-confidence. There have been years when the people of Rotterdam had to travel to their arch-rival with a different feeling.

_{View the goals below.}