Feyenoord’s season is getting better and better. After reaching the semi-finals in the cup, the team of trainer Arne Slot is now also among the best eight in the Europa League and the team had an ideal warm-up against Shakhtar Donetsk (7-1) for the Classic against Ajax coming Sunday.
Suddenly there was no more nerve-racking final phase to triumph. In De Kuip this Thursday evening no nail-biting supporters in the stands, no heart palpitations among thousands of tough guys in the Legion. From the moment that Mexican striker Santiago Giménez (already in minute 9) rammed the ball into the net, they could relax behind the meters high nets for the first time in weeks or lean against the neighbor with a beer in hand to admire all the goals.
It is a luxury that the supporters are not used to in this blistering season. In the eyes of everyone, Feyenoord plays the most attractive and entertaining football that has been shown in decades, but in many duels it remained a matter of repairing damage suffered earlier. Yes, Feyenoord is dominant in almost all its matches, but Slot wants to see that force majeure in the opponent’s half expressed in goals.
Kick-off football show
In that respect, he has already been served at his beck and call against Shakhtar in the first half. The fact that Giménez opened the score fits in with the development of the center forward. Five months ago you wouldn’t bet three bottles of Tequila that he would immediately finish a ball in the box with flying colors. But the man who was brought in as a relatively unknown attacker last summer is in such a good mood that he is now starting to show the same scoring drive as Cyriel Dessers did a year earlier in the Conference League.
Salient detail: where Slot held on to the ‘putting pressure’ Bryan Linssen for a long time at the time, this season he opted for the equally disruptive Danilo for a while. But the real strikers do emerge. Giménez’s 1-0 was a real striker’s goal: a handy assumption, a quick turn and from the turn he immediately pressed. He probably would have made it with sunglasses and a sombrero, that’s how quickly he was away from the Ukrainian defenders.
It was the starting signal for a football show that resulted in a 5-0 score within the hour. One goal was even more beautiful than the other. Orkun Kökcü looked something like a snooker player as he poked the ball from a distance across the green sheet of the Kuip in the far corner, followed by another flawless penalty kick from the captain. Then it was the turn of Oussama Idrissi who tapped the score to 5-0 with two velvet curls.
European ranking
And the show wasn’t over yet. From outside the box, Alireza Jahanbakhsh also showed that his right leg has become many times more effective in his second season. He is reminiscent of the Jahanbakhsh who once became top scorer in the Eredivisie in the shirt of AZ and forced his transfer to the Premier League.
Everyone knows that the Ukrainians are in a terrible war at home, that they also sold their best player Mykhailo Mudryk to Chelsea. Still, Shakhtar has a big name in European club football and therefore the result will make an impression in all major football countries. Not so long ago, Feyenoord was around number one hundred in the European ranking and is now rising at lightning speed. The team from Rotterdam is already around thirty thanks to all those victories under Slot.
After an hour the coach was able to change to his heart’s content with a view to the confrontation with Ajax next Sunday. And he did. Slot took Giménez, Szymanski, Idrissi and Kökcü to the side early. Left back Marcos Lopez, who replaced the sick Quilindschy Hartman in the base, was added. Lopez had to leave the field injured.
Historic evening
It didn’t detract from the scoring drive, as Danilo also found the net (7-0). Kevin Kelsy scored an honorary goal just in time, but it was a sad night for Shakhtar fans. For Ukrainians who fled to the Netherlands, there was the possibility to buy a ticket for the branch at a reduced rate. About a thousand people used it. They saw how their compatriots had no chance on the field on a historic evening for Feyenoord. Because only Olympique Lyon ever managed to score seven times in the Europa League. That happened six years ago against… AZ (7-1).