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On Wednesday, May 25, at 21:00, Josè Mourinho’s Roma will play in the Conference League final against the Dutch side Feyenoord at the Air Albania Stadium in Tirana. This is the first final of these new competitions, in which the “Giallorossi” could become the first winners. The last season with at least one victory at Roma was the 2007-2008 season, with successes in the Super Cup and the Italian Cup. At European level, then, Roma came close to winning the old Champions Cup in the 83-84 season (defeated on penalties by Liverpool), and also lost the 91st Uefa Cup final against Inter. The only continental trophy won remains the Fairs Cup, in 1960-61.
The Italian team deserved access to the final act of the tournament after having struggled in some cases, even and especially after the collapse in the trip to Norway with Bodo Glimt, even losing 6-1. That was definitely the worst part of Roma’s season, but they still managed to finish first in their group, ahead of Bodo, Zorya, and CSKA Sofia. In a group that wasn’t easy, Abraham and his teammates scored 13 points and didn’t have to play in the playoffs.
In the second round, the “Giallorossi” team then overtook Vitesse, not without worries, with the Dutch risking a comeback in the return to the Olimpico, before Abraham’s decisive goal in extremis. Revenge on Bodo Glimt came in the quarterfinals, with a 4-0 return embellished by Nicolò Zaniolo’s hat-trick. Finally, the semi-final against the English side of Leicester, with the 1-1 at King Power and the 1-0 always signed by Tammy Abraham, a true leader of the team with 9 goals in the competition.
Roma are in a good period and have just returned from a great 0-3 victory over Torino, with which they have gained access to the next Europa League. They therefore arrive at their best in this final, having lost only one match in the last 6 official matches. The last hurdle for the “Giallorossi” is Feyenoord.
Feyenoord, on the other hand, have a very respectable European record: the glorious team based in Rotterdam, in fact, won the European Cup in 1970 (beating Celtic). The successes continued in the following years as well, with the two UEFA championships won in 1974 and 2002: not bad for the 15-time Dutch champions who, according to the odds, start at a very slight disadvantage compared to the “Giallorossi”.
The team coached by Arne Slot reached the final a little by surprise by eliminating Jorge Sampaoli’s Marseille in the semifinals, who started as favorites on the eve. In the direct clash phase, the Rotterdam team then eliminated the Serbs of Partizan, the Czechs of Slavia Prague, and, specifically, the French of Marseille. In the Eredivisie they finished in third place, despite losing the last home knockout against Twente 1-2.
The only official matches between the two teams date back to February 2015: in the round of 32 of the Europa League, it was Roma who won 2-1 at De Kuip in the return match thanks to goals from Ljajic and Gervinho (provisional draw by Manu) and were good at containing the comeback ambitions of the guests at the Olympic Stadium, with the first leg ending 1-1 (Gervinho and Kazim-Richards the scorers).
The analysis of the current Uefa ranking is very interesting, with Roma occupying an excellent 11th position, thanks to the semi-finals of the Champions and Europa League obtained in recent years. Feyenoord, on the other hand, are 42nd, behind Ajax (15th position), which confirms their leadership in Oranje football.
Roma must be careful because this team has never lost in the tournament and scores very frequently, especially with the Nigerian Cyriel Dessers, top scorer with 10 goals, and with the Colombian Luis Sinisterra (6 goals).
Form Guide
Roma DDWLDW
In their last Serie A game, Roma beat Torino 3-0, so they will be hoping for a similar result here.
During that game, Roma had a 41% possession rate and 14 shots on goal, with 6 of those shots finding the back of the net. Tammy Abraham scored twice (in the 33rd and 42nd minutes) and Lorenzo Pellegrini scored once (in the 78th minute) for Roma. Torino, on the other hand, had 13 shots on goal, with only two of them actually hitting the target.
Five out of the last six matches that Roma have been a part of have had an average of fewer than three goals scored. In terms of the goal tally from that session, Roma ended up with six goals while their rivals scored a total of four.
Feyenoord WWDDWL
After suffering a loss against FC Twente in the Eredivisie competition the last time around, both Feyenoord and the fans of the club will be hoping for a different outcome this time around.
Cyriel Dessers was the lone player from Feyenoord to score (he did it in the 68th minute). FC Twente got goals from Dimitris Limnios (in the 27th minute) and Gijs Smal (in the 37th minute).
The Feyenoord team, captained by Arne Slot, has been successful in scoring 10 goals over the course of their most recent six matches, which results in an average of 1.67 goals per game for the team.
The key statistics
Injured and suspended
Roma: (Henrikh Mkhitaryan)
Feyenoord: (Justin Bijlow)
Roma vs Feyenoord Predicted XI
Roma Predicted XI: Rui Patrício; Mancini, Smalling, Ibañez; Karsdorp, Cristante, Sérgio Oliveira, Pellegrini, Zalewski; Zaniolo, Abraham.
Feyenoord Predicted XI: Marciano; Geertruida, Trauner, Senesi, Malacia; Til, Aursnes, Orkun Kökçü; Nelson, Dessers, Sinisterra
Prediction
The ease with which these two teams score suggests that a match full of emotions and goals awaits us, but as is well known, the finals are always tight matches that are decided with episodes. The feeling is that Roma are in extraordinary physical and mental condition and also have a winning leader like the Special One, who hardly misses these appointments. The lack of experience of Dutch youth should weigh in on such a challenge.
We believe that Feyenoord will have a difficult time finding the back of the net against this Roma lineup, as we believe that Roma may very well be able to score themselves in a winning performance and that they will be able to make it difficult for Feyenoord to find the back of the net.
Assessing the possible performance of the two teams in Tirana on the basis of what has been done in previous matches could be misleading, but we think the game will be close, with Roma winning 1-0.