By Mikos Juka

The wet Stadio Olimpico played just over fifteen minutes and Arne Slot appeared on the edge of the field with a sweaty forehead. Feyenoord’s trainer first showed four fingers, then another four and then two. It was a desperate attempt by Slot to reorganize his Feyenoord playing system during a completely failed opening stage which must have felt Lazio Roma like a big rondo with a desperate opponent from Rotterdam in the middle.

Lazio Roma really showed Feyenoord in every corner of the field in the first half. The Conference League Final losing finalist saw more opponents appear life-threatening in their sixteen metres than in nearly the entire previous European campaign. The quick opening goal was a simple triangle between Matias Vecino, Ciro Immobile and Luis Alberto while allowing the Spaniard to finish the match as if it was a training exercise.

At 2-0, Quilindschy Hartmann was easily cut by Felipe Anderson and the young full-back was unlucky afterwards as Justin Bigelow didn’t go around trying in the Brazilian’s short corner. Belo Vecino blocked 3-0 moments later, but Uruguay was allowed to score 3-0 moments later. In all of those situations, there were enough Feyenoord players around, but a resolute intervention was not possible again and again. And it was with the great progress that the Romans became satisfied with themselves because otherwise the score before the end of the first half would have been much higher. Unmoved and Adam Marousic, for example, free chances spilled.

Slot focused mainly on the four goals his team scored on Saturday night in Deventer after the 3-4 win over Go Ahead and deliberately underscores the poor start with two quick goals in his net and in the final stage a third goal from the last goal. ..

Perhaps also to give his team confidence. Last season’s success formation is almost gone and the purchased Foreign Legion can’t pick up the thread in record time. However, it turns out that Lazio Roma, currently ranked nine in the Italian league, is miles away from the second seed in the Eredivisie.

But the question is whether Slot took into account so much class difference. The coach himself indicated before the match that Lazio and Feyenoord would compete for dominance and that this would likely be done in stages. Then again Lazio and then his team again. The practice turns out to be different. Defeat with one small advantage. Usually, the Romans will quickly make sure to get a ticket for the knockout stage and may no longer travel to Kuip with the star group on the last day of play in Group F of the European League in Rotterdam.

After the break, Slot did not allow Sebastian Szymanski to return. Javiero Delrosson became the deepest midfielder behind striker Danilo and got Alireza Jahanbakhsh on half of the playing time. The replacement of the Pole, who played like his teammates, told the story. From the superstar in Deventer to an extra role in Rome. Although the latter can be said about all of Feyenoord. Vecino made the score 4-0.

Santiago Jimenez’s 4-1 result was also telling. The Mexican striker quickly took care of the ball and refused to hand it to Orkun Kokjo in the penalty kick. Although the striker shot flawlessly, he didn’t care about his fellow players who thought his greed put the captain in his shirt. The same Jimenez also made a 4-2 tap against the ropes after a beautiful shot from Al Idrissi bounced into the field across the crossbar. Hit the stats: He’s the first player since John D. Thomason in 1998 to score two goals on his debut in Europe. For a moment, Feyenoord still hoped for a penalty in injury time, but after studying the photos, the referee withdrew his droppings.

On Sunday, Sparta is waiting for a sporting revenge, and next Thursday Sturm Graz will visit Kobes to participate in the second match of the European League. Feyenoord will want to answer quickly and that is also possible. Last season, Rotterdam opened the Conference League with a poor performance in Israel against Maccabi Haifa (0-0). However, the harsh game of that evening disappeared in record time with the popular series Toward Tirana as a sequel. Although 4-2 in Rome will of course feel much more pain than 0-0 in Haifa.

Watch Lazio’s goals below.

Watch all of our Feyenoord videos here.