Concluding a memorable first season for the Europa Conference League

Post Views: 570

Concluding a memorable first season for the Europa Conference League, Roma and final opponents Feyenoord convene in Tirana on Wednesday night, as they battle it out for a place in history. While the Italian club are seeking their first victory in a UEFA final, having twice lost previously, their Dutch counterparts could become the first team to have lifted all three of Europe’s current club trophies.

Tirana’s Air Albania Stadium plays host to the UEFA Europa Conference League (UECL) final which sees Roma and Feyenoord prepare to do battle to become the first ever winners of this competition. Roma boss José Mourinho has shown his usual confidence going into this final by claiming his side are a “giant club without the trophy room to match”, and with the Italian club losing their only two previous UEFA finals, Mourinho will be hoping he can make it third time lucky for the Rome outfit.

A 3-0 win at Torino on the final day of Serie A secured Europa League football for Roma via a sixth-placed finish, so they have no added pressure of needing to win here to regain European football next season. Despite losing twice in this competition – both times away to Bodø/Glimt – the road to the final has been relatively straightforward for Roma (W7, D3, L2), although the UECL second top scorers did struggle to punish Dutch side Vitesse on route, scoring just once in both legs (2-1 agg).

Despite a 2-1 defeat to Twente on the final day of the Eredivisie season, Feyenoord finished in third place to confirm their progression to the Europa League qualifiers, something they will sidestep to go straight into the group stage if they beat Roma here. The Dutchmen may be quietly confident of upsetting the odds considering their impressive record in European finals (W4, L1), though the most recent one was 20 years ago and ended in a 3-1 defeat to Real Madrid.

The road to the final saw Arne Slot’s men sail through as group winners by a healthy six-point margin before eliminating Partizan, Slavia Prague and Marseille, and that’s despite falling behind three times along the way. With that ability to bounce back, underestimate Feyenoord at your peril, especially as they have scored more goals than Roma (G28), remain unbeaten in this tournament, and have a historical 64% unbeaten rate against Italian opposition (W5, D4, L5).

Date: 24/05/2022
Time: 22:00
Venue: Air Albania Stadium (Tirana)
Pick for this match:
“1” – @ 2.40 ( BETWINNER )