The Europa League quarterfinal between Feyenoord and Roma encapsulates two opposing approaches to generating momentum
There was an unconventional piece of choreographed atmosphere in the stands of De Kuip in the 12th minute of last week’s Europa League first leg between Feyenoord and AS Roma. With the previous week’s Dutch cup tie against Ajax having been marred by a tasteless display of pyrotechnics and a lighter thrown from the stands which left Ajax midfielder Davy Klaassen bleeding, Feyenoord’s supporter associations had taken to social media calling for inflatables to be brought to the ground en masse as a playful alternative to the nastiness which had been all-pervasive the previous week.
And so the spectacle of blown-up plastic crocodiles being jostled about in the early-evening sunshine was the backdrop to the latest meeting between two sides who have developed a certain enmity in recent years, the bad blood running from Rome’s Barcaccia fountain, left a rubbish-strewn mess after Feyenoord’s visit in 2015, through Tirana, where both groups of supporters clashed ahead of last year’s Conference League final. That match ended in Roman glory, Jose Mourinho neutralising Feyenoord’s attack to perfection and taking the sting out of the game, his Feyenoord counterpart Arne Slot unable to breach the massed red-and-yellow lines behind the ball, the game fizzling out after Nicolò Zaniolo had put Roma ahead with half an hour gone.
Slot had emphasised the need to avoid going behind in his pre-match press conference, knowing that it would be an invitation for Roma to engage in time-wasting and provocations of the crowd. Given this, the choice of Feyenoord’s supporters to create a bubbly atmosphere, and not a tense one, appears all the more sensible. Mourinho has established himself as a sort of emitter of anti-matter, taking the hostility of a baying opposing crowd and converting it into a smirk on his face. Last Thursday, De Kuip didn’t give him the material to destroy and spit back at the crowd, depriving Mourinho of a headline role.
On the pitch, too, Roma were largely content to respond to Feyenoord’s initiatives, looking to capitalise on turnovers and gaps left in defence, the vulnerabilities brought about by Feyenoord’s urgency to get forward. Roma nearly reaped the rewards from this approach in the first half: a miscommunication between Quilindschy Hartman and Orkun Kökcü led to a Roma free kick just outside the box, which Paolo Dybala lifted over; on the stroke of half-time Lorenzo Pellegrini had the chance to give the Giallorossi the lead from the spot, but slammed his effort off the outside of the post. Yet Roma mustered little going forward, a Roger Ibañez header off the bar notwithstanding, once Mats Wieffer’s volley had given the hosts the advantage in the 53rd minute. It was as though Feyenoord taking its foot off the gas had sapped Roma of its own ability to force the initiative, having used the energy generated by the home side in the first half.
That makes the setup for Thursday’s second leg at the Stadio Olimpico an intriguing one. Slot, ever the Guardiola disciple, has pledged to try playing on the front foot in an effort to keep Roma as far from the goal as possible. Mourinho, for his part, has invoked the presence of 70.000 raucous Roma fans (away fans having been banned for this tie) as reason for belief that the Giallorossi’s deficit can be overcome. To do so, the master of the tight-knit siege mentality will have to go on the attack.
Inthehalfspace 