“We have played 55 matches this season and it would still be surprising if (Jose Mourinho) surprises us,” said Feyenoord Rotterdam coach Arne Slot on Tuesday on the eve of the Europa League Conference final against Barcelona. ‘AS Roma in Tirana.
“Our goal is to be up to the event and to achieve what we have been doing all season,” explained the Dutch technician, whose team eliminated in the semi-finals Olympique de Marseille to reach the final of the first edition of the C4.
“Of course, opposite, it’s Roma, who have a solid and well-structured team, with particularly creative players at the attacking level. Mourinho has chosen lately to come up with a particularly aggressive way of defending and we’ll try to parry any tricks he might come up with. We have played 55 matches this season and it would still be surprising if he surprised us, ”said Slot.
Unlike AS Roma, whose international record is still blank, Feyenoord has three European titles to its name (C1 in 1970, C3 in 1974 and 2002). Present alongside their coach, Austrian central defender Gernot Trauner and Dutch attacking midfielder Jens Toornstra also displayed their dreams of greatness.
“I did not think that we would be present here in the final, recognizes Trauner. Despite everything, we have played well all season, from the group stages, and if we are in the final, it is because we deserve it. Don’t expect us to come here to make up the numbers: this final, we want to win it!”
“Against Marseille, we had to empty our guts, but we proved that we could do it, for his part recalled captain Jens Toornstra. Of course, Roma is tough. It relies on a different style, develops a different tactic than OM, but if we manage to play as we have done throughout the season on the European scene, why not dream of final success? Absent for two months, goalkeeper Justin Bijlow is in competition with Ofir Marciano to play in this final.
