Fifty-three years after their meeting in the final of this competition, Feyenoord and Celtic faced each other once more to open up the last-ever group stage of the Champions League, knowing only victory would suffice to keep advancement to this season’s knockout stages a realistic prospect. For the first hour, both sides looked capable of staking their claim to the three points, with Calvin Stengs’ free-kick on the stroke of halftime giving Feyenoord a slender lead. Then followed an astonishing mental collapse in which Celtic were reduced to nine men in the space of five minutes; by the time the final whistle had sounded the Scottish champions had their keeper Joe Hart and a very active VAR to thank for keeping the scoreline respectable.
Tuesday’s match was the first encounter between Feyenoord and Celtic since the 1970 European Cup final, a landmark occasion referred to repeatedly by both sets of media departments and both sets of supporters in the days before the game. That May evening in Milan might now seem prehistoric in footballing terms, preserved in low-resolution black-and-white footage accompanied by muffled audio commentary, yet it is still a living part of the two clubs’ identities. For Feyenoord, victory that day made them the first Dutch team to win a European trophy; for Celtic, it was their last brush with glory in Europe’s most prestigious competition, having won it three years earlier. That night’s two protagonists meeting again was reason enough to conjure memories of that evening back to life, with Wim Jansen, the diminutive Rotterdammer who pulled the midfield strings for Feyenoord in 1970 and later became a title-winning manager at Celtic, serving as a unifying figure for both teams to reminisce over. The legacy of the 1970 final also inspired the pre-match décor, as Feyenoord supporters unfurled a banner behind one of the goals embossed with the Champions League trophy earned in the crucible of the San Siro.
For both Feyenoord and Celtic, progressing out of Group E would be an achievement almost as formidable as winning the tournament was for both two generations ago. Both clubs receive a fraction of the domestic TV revenue paid out to Atlético Madrid and Lazio, the other two teams in Group E. According to statistics from the CIES Football Observatory, Atlético spent €374 million in assembling their current squad, dwarfing Feyenoord’s €88 million and the €63 million stumped up by Celtic. Nor has either side had much success had in toppling Europe’s well-endowed elite in their recent Champions League forays, both footing their groups last time they trod out to the strains of‘Zadok the Priest’. Three points were crucial for both to start off the group, a point reiterated by Feyenoord manager Arne Slot in his pre-match press conference as he expressed his view that only a maximum haul of nine points from three home matches would be enough to see his club through.
Slot was forced to improvise at the centre-forward position, with first-choice Santiago Giménez suspended and his deputy, the Japanese Ayase Ueda, out with an injury picked up on international duty. The teenaged Gambian winger Yankuba Minteh started in their stead, and his lack of familiarity with how to lead the attacking line contributed to a solid start from Celtic. Celtic gaffer Brendan Rodgers’ tactic involved conceding possession to Feyenoord, then allowing the home defenders to struggle with how to dispose of the ball as Celtic marked the opposing attackers out of the game. It was a testament to this strategy’s effectiveness that Feyenoord, who had notched 17 goals in their last 3 Eredivisie matches, didn’t seriously test Joe Hart until a rising piledriver from Minteh was nudged over with just over 30 minutes played. The Glaswegian visitors themselves created a number of half-chances by hassling Feyenoord into turnovers, with Reo Hatate drawing a save from Feyenoord keeper Timo Wellenreuther before his fellow Japanese Daizen Maeda countered down the right side to force a diving stop from the German. Feyenoord had a penalty appeal for handball denied at the other end, but neither side could fairly have complained about a goalless scoreline going into the break.
Stengs ensured no such complaints would be coming, skipping a free kick through the wall and towards the corner of the net. Hart got a hand to it, but couldn’t keep it out, and De Kuip began to shake in ecstasy in the curving, billowing rain. It was an avoidable blow from a Celtic point of view; Quinten Timber was surrounded by green shirts when he was fouled to set up the free kick, and Hart perhaps could have saved Stengs’ effort. It was nowhere near as catastrophic, however, as the act of self-immolation which Celtic undertook in the second half.
The pitch had started to open up for Feyenoord towards the end of the first half, and that pattern carried forth after the restart, though without the hosts having many real sights of goal. Stengs once again twisted the game’s plot just after the hour mark, picking up the ball just inside his own half and braiding his way deep into Celtic territory before slipping the ball towards Igor Paixao in the penalty area. Celtic’s Gustaf Lagerbielke pulled Paixao to the floor, leading Bosnian referee Irfan Peljto to award a penalty and dismiss Lagerbielke with his second yellow card of the match. Paixao’s resulting spot-kick was stopped by Hart, the former England keeper sprawling to his right to push out the Brazilian’s low effort; but a baying Kuip sniffed blood.
Blood very nearly literally appeared when Celtic substitute Odin Thiago Holm jumped into a bizarre tackle on Feyenoord midfielder Mats Wieffer, which produced one of the most obvious red cards likely to be seen in this season’s Champions League. From then on the outcome was never in doubt, especially after Alireza Jahanbakhsh’s superb volley doubled Feyenoord’s lead with 15 minutes to play. The noticeable presence of VAR in the second half was a sign of how football has changed since these two teams last played. Two Feyenoord goals were disallowed by the video referee, and both Celtic dismissals were extensively reviewed, leading to the words ‘VAR check’ adorning the stadium scoreboards almost as much as the actual score in the closing stages. The only blemish for Feyenoord was the late injury suffered by winger Luka Ivanusec, who had to be carted off the pitch on a stretcher with an ankle injury.
For Celtic, the dream of rejoining the gilded ranks of Europe’s 16 best teams after an 11-year absence already seems like it may be a bridge too far. Rodgers had hedged expectations ahead of Tuesday’s match, claiming that ‘Europe after Christmas’ was his team’s target, but even third place and the Europa League will take Celtic exceeding the levels they’ve shown in Europe in recent seasons. At least Celtic can draw inspiration from their 1997-98 season under Wim Jansen, when they won their first Scottish Premiership title in a decade despite losing their first two league matches.
Feyenoord, meanwhile, should have Ueda back for their next group game away to Atlético Madrid, although Giménez will still be suspended. The cup with the big ears won’t be making its way to Rotterdam this season, but optimism is high that Feyenoord will follow their 2022 Conference League final appearance and Quarterfinal spot in last season’s Europa League with a place in the knockout round of Europe’s élite tournament this campaign.
Inthehalfspace 