Feyenoord played a home game against Tilburg at the weekend. How did Slavia’s opponent fare? And what can Sešiovans look forward to?

On Thursday, Feyenoord Rotterdam will play the first quarter-final match of the Conference Europa League against Slavia Prague. On Saturday, the team from Europe’s biggest port played a home league match against Willem II Tilburg. How did they do in this dress rehearsal before the clash with the Czech champion?

Before the match, Feyenord were 3rd in the Dutch Eredivisie table with a three-point lead over the chasing AZ Alkmaar. The team from Tilburg was in 15th place with a one-point lead from the relegation places. Feyenoord was therefore a big favourite before the game.

Feyenoord’s line-up

Feyenoord went into the match with a 4-2-3-1 formation:

Ofir Marciano,

Marcus H. Pedersen – Gernot Trauner – Marcos Senesi (C) – Tyrell Malacia

Fredrik Aursnes – Orkun Kökçü

Reiss Nelson – Guus Til – Luis Sinisterra

Cyriel Dessers

First half

According to the position in the table, the match of these teams also unfolded right from the beginning. Feyenoord’s players attacked their opponents’ passing from the opening whistle, which almost led to the first goal in the opening seconds of the match. The visitors’ inaccurate cross was picked up by midfielder Guus Til and he sent a pass through the air to the lone striker Dessers without hesitation, but he shot over the opponent’s goal from outside the sixteen.

The next flurry came in the 8th minute when, again attacking in the middle of the park, Feyenoord won the ball thanks to the cooperation of Aursnes and Pedersen. The former sent Dessers alone in front of the Wellenreuther goalkeeper with a perpendicular pass. However, the Feyenoord striker failed to get a clearance on the goalkeeper and thus drove himself almost to the corner flag.

This was followed by a quick action down the right flank, from which Marcus Pedersen centred to Til, who charged in from the second wave and missed the target from a volley.

A minute later, Feyenoord regained possession of the ball thanks to a successful breakdown of the opponent’s cross. A quick counter-attack ended with a great cross from London Arsenal’s Reiss Nelson, but his shot was cleared out for a corner by the visiting goalkeeper.

After that, however, Feyenoord exploited Tilburg’s deeply stretched defence in vain. They often tried to do it through the wing areas, where they have really good players like Sinisterra, Nelson and Pedersen. However, Tilburg’s consolidated defence was difficult to overcome. That’s why Feyenoord players tried their luck with mid-range shots, but usually lacked more accuracy despite the crowded space in the large white space.

It wasn’t until the 40th minute that the left side of Tilburg’s defensive wall opened up, when Kökçü quickly shifted the focus of play with a cross to a lone Pedersen. However, the latter failed to finish the shot.

In stoppage time of the first half, the visitors’ goalkeeper Wellenreuther shone once more when he caught Sinisterr’s header on the goal line. This came after a well-played corner kick by Turkish international Orkun Kökçü.

That was all in the first half. The score was still 0:0.

Second half

The second act of the match started in a similar vein to the whole first half. It continued with the conquest of the Tilburg defence, which defended around its own whitewash, so to speak, with its entire eleven.

The final phase therefore continued to cause Rotterdam problems. So again there were several shots from medium range. It was only in the 62nd minute that Feeyenord’s players, with a pleasing combination, got into the small area where the ball deflected to Ausrnes. However, the latter shot just over the bar.

Feyenoord’s deliverance came in the 67th minute when Siniseterra’s shot to the post was a powerful individual effort. The visiting defenders allowed the Colombian midfielder too much space by not getting closer to him.

The game changed after the goal was scored. The visitors moved further away from their goal and increased their activity. However, Feyenoord could take advantage of this with quick counter attacks, which is what almost happened in the 79th minute. After a quick combination between Sinisterra and Tilo, Bryan Linssen, who had previously replaced Dessers in attack, found himself face to face with Wellenreuther. However, Linssen did not beat the Tilburg goalkeeper.

Subsequently, a substitution was made with both wingers Sinisterra and Nelson leaving the field. Feyenoord’s attacking dominance was blunted by this substitution. In the 88th minute, Willem II could even have equalised after a miscue by the Feyenoord defenders. However, the visitors did not have an accurate shot.

Despite the dwindling advantage, Rotterdam got one more goal from the visitors’ stopper Dammers, who passed directly to the home team’s Linssen. This time he made no mistake as he rounded the goalkeeper and finished into an empty net.

In conclusion

Feyenoord’s match with Tilburg was a classic spectacle of teams fighting for the top and the tail of the league table. The home team conquered the visitor’s sixteen-man box for most of the match. Feyenoord’s players were able to make a combo breakthrough, but it was only the individual action of Colombian midfielder Siniseterra that saved them.

This match cannot be directly compared to the knockout clashes on the European stage. However, it showed Feyenoord’s strengths. In particular, the midfield is very good and dangerous. It can assert itself both with patient combinations and quick counter-attacks. When two or three quick passes are enough to overcome the opponent’s defence. The strength of Feyenoord’s midfield also lies in its excellent attacking of the opponent’s crosses.

Rotterdam’s midfielders are also very technically proficient. The first goal scored by Sinisterra is a testament to that. Kökçü, who plays most of the standard situations accurately, was recently named Dutch league player of the month.

The defensive line also put in a good performance and, apart from one situation before the end of the game, looked confident. Especially the Austrian footballer and former LASK Linz player Gernot Trauner gave a very calm impression not only in defence but also in midfield. Mention should also be made of right-back Pedersen, who often dangerously supports his team’s attacking efforts.

However, it is also a fact that Tilburg hardly pressed at all and also did not get too much into the visitors’ half, except for the last minutes of the match. Thus, Feyenoord’s defenders did not play under pressure for most of the game. So they could not be sufficiently tested by this opponent.

Feyenoord as a whole looked like a very compact and dynamic football machine. Yet they struggled to be more accurate in the end. Their concept of the game looked similar to that of Slavia Prague. So the Seychellois are not expecting anything easy. However, it could also mean that we will see an even contest with fast combinations on both sides full of goal scoring opportunities.

Source: Eredivisie, Transfermarkt