Feyenoord are finished in Europe

Friday 28 November 2008

Feyenoord will not progress to next round of the UEFA Cup and will have to seriously worry whether they can enter next year as fans misbehave again when they saw their team lose 3-0 to Deportivo la Coruña.

Feyenoord were without chance in Estadio Riazor, and that was extra tough for Roy Makaay.

The 33-year-old forward returned to the stadium where he celebrated his biggest triumphs and would have loved to show his old team what his new club can do.

But that was very little.

After earlier defeats against Nancy (3-0) and CSKA Moscow (1-3) it was bewildering to see how little Feyenoord had to offer against a Spanish side that is no longer the top side they were even five years ago.

The Rotterdammers made it through the first half hour unscathed, playing well organized and very defensively and the current number 7 of the Primera Division were cautious in their forward moves.

But then Feyenoord started to lose their footing.

Georginio Wijnaldum cleared the ball of the line at a Deportivo corner and in the chaos that followed defender Lopo opened the score from close range.

Feyenoord didn't create a single chance in the first half.

Roy Makaay, welcomed with a modest applause before the game, was all alone up front and with no real wingers in the team there was no supply chains either.

Coach Verbeek did not put on the recovered Andwele Slory at half-time, although the pacy forward was perhaps just what Feyenoord needed.

Instead Verbeek took of rightback Tiendalli for midfielder Lucius and that intentionally gave Feyenoord a bit more bite.

Luigi Bruins even tested the Spanish goal keeper Aranzubia with a vicious shot shortly after the break.

During half time a small portion of the Feyenoord fans caused trouble in the stands and UEFA will surely have no mercy on Feyenoord after so many incidents with the club's in Europe already.

Just when Feyenoord seemed about to get a better grip on things Deportivo decided the game.

First Hofland scored an unfortunate own goal and from the kickoff of that second goal Deportivo scored a third within a minute: Guardado, 3-0.

Spanish riot police then reestablished some peace in the stands just so that everybody could see Roy Makaay miss Feyenoord's best chance of the game.

In the last quarter of the game the home team had a handful of chances to increase the score.

Coach Gertjan Verbeek had a simple conclusion after Feyenoord had again proven unable to resist even the smaller teams in Europe.

"Feyenoord are not good enough to play at this level. Look at our results: three games played, zero points and a goal difference of -8. That is the harsh reality and that is what we're dealing with. Whether this is a big blow? We'll have to wait and see what happens when we face Vitesse on Sunday."