No pyro, no party, is the slogan of the hard core of the Legion. They know it at UEFA, they know it in the Feyenoord boardroom, but banning that fireworks party seems like a utopia. Simultaneously with the mega banner that unfolded over a hundred meters, a hurricane came loose that really gave the Feyenoord players wings for the first 25 minutes.
Olympique’s supporters, themselves not afraid of a little one, had their own New Year’s Eve show in the stands, but the 2000 men from the French port city looked open-mouthed at what happened before their eyes both before the start signal and during the opening phase.
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To the great relief of the whole of Rotterdam, it also remained a football party. UEFA had a bit of a hard head about it beforehand. The fact that Anthony Taylor (England’s best referee) had been appointed as fourth official in addition to Premier League referee Michael Oliver, indicated that the game in the Conference League was regarded as a big risk game.
Risk match
But the word risk competition could be put in a much nicer perspective. Feyenoord and Marseille both put plenty of risk in their game with their ambitious and attacking plans. Even before Dessers’ 1-0, which turned the stadium upside down so much that you would almost think that Feyenoord had reached the final of the Champions League, the Senegalese Bamba Dieng had already crossed the road twice with the speed of a French TGV. flew past Gernot Trauner on the left flank. First, Ofir Marciano, who still replaces the long-injured Justin Bijlow, saved his team. The second time, Dieng shot past.
Siege
Then the real siege of the Marseille goal began with unbridled attacks, lightning-fast ball conquests and Feyenoord players swarming like bees. The Argentinian Marcos Senesi felt completely at home in the swirling Kuip, which makes him think on European evenings that he is playing in the hell of the Bombonera stadium of Boca Juniors in his home country. Senesi should have headed in the 1-0 himself, but a few minutes later gave the crazy deep pass from which Dessers was able to score thanks to a heel from Luis Sinisterra.
Cyriel Dessers celebrates his goal with the audience.
Kenzo TRIBOUILLARD / AFP
What Sinisterra can do, Trauner thought, I can do too. It must have been part of Slot’s conscious tactic: the wide search behind Marseille’s defence. Trauner sent Reiss Nelson away on the right wing who put the ball on a silver platter for Sinisterra: 2-0.
So far all the beautiful work at the home club and the central duo. The intention was not to change anything and Feyenoord, in the style of Slot, indeed still attacked unhindered. But the French smelled the spaces that Feyenoord left behind the defense just like they did. Dieng, the 22-year-old African sprinter, scored the 2-1 at top speed and Gerson put his team next to Feyenoord before the break: 2-2.
Phenomenon
Semifinals are often a feast for the eyes, many times more attractive than almost any final battle. This match was no exception. The progress of the score almost kept pace with the semi-finals of the Champions League, to which Slot had made a deep bow two days earlier and which he regarded as the ideal image of top football.
The 2-2 halftime score was just a downer, immediately at the kick-off of the second half Dessers set the stadium on fire again. Of course it was a gift from the blundering center defender Duje Caleta-Car, who played back too weakly on goalkeeper Steve Mandanda (3-2), but the goal also belongs on the palette of the man who can no longer break as a striker in Rotterdam and top scorer in the Conference League.
Desserts has become a phenomenon. The fact that he received all the credit this week from Pierre van Hooijdonk, who played a major role in winning the UEFA Cup in 2002, says a lot about the status of the Belgian top scorer. And so in the best game of his career so far, two more goals were added.