Roma vs Feyenoord

There’s everything left to play for between Roma and Feyenoord as the two sides meet at the Stadio Olimpico in the return leg of their evenly-poised Europa League knockout playoff tie.

Roma hauled back a halftime lead in a 1-1 first-leg draw to bolster their chances of overcoming Feyenoord in a European knockout tie for the third season on the trot. Daniele De Rossi’s side built on a promising result in Rotterdam with a 3-0 demolition of Serie A strugglers Frosinone at the weekend, maintaining their mini-revival under the new manager (W4, D1, L1). Though their only defeat under De Rossi came at Olimpico against Inter, Roma’s home form speaks volumes as they had not lost any of their 14 previous outings in the Eternal City (W12, D2). That should inspire Roma’s confidence about strengthening their impressive record against Dutch opposition (W6, D5, L3) and, in turn, preserving a 100% unbeaten home ratio against Feyenoord (W1, D1).

On the other hand, Feyenoord enjoyed a victorious weekend in the Eredivisie. Yet they left it late to beat Dutch minnows RKC 1-0 on home turf, extending their unbeaten run in all competitions to 11 games (W8, D3). Manager Arne Slot can draw inspiration from his side’s superb scoring form on the road, as they’ve found the net in all but one of their last 29 away matches. Perhaps worryingly, a 1-0 defeat to Roma’s arch-rivals Lazio in November 2023 remains the only blemish on the Dutch champions’ sterling scoring streak outside De Kuip. However, it also forms part of Feyenoord’s long-standing struggles on the continental front, as they’ve not won any of their last nine European away matches (D3, L6).