epa11891748 Antoni Milambo of Feyenoord (L) guards Santiago Gimenez of AC Milan (C-R) during the UEFA Champions League playoff first leg soccer match between Feyenoord and AC Milan, in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, 12 February 2025. EPA-EFE/OLAF KRAAK
epa11891748 Antoni Milambo of Feyenoord (L) guards Santiago Gimenez of AC Milan (C-R) during the UEFA Champions League playoff first leg soccer match between Feyenoord and AC Milan, in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, 12 February 2025. EPA-EFE/OLAF KRAAK

Feyenoord will receive an extra advantage in their Champions League Round of 16 meeting with Inter, given rest for several days before the second leg.

The first leg will be at the De Kuip stadium on Wednesday at 17.45 GMT, while the decider is at San Siro on Tuesday March 11 at 20.00 GMT.

Inter are dealing with a huge injury crisis caused in part by the packed fixture list, where they participated this season in Serie A, the Champions League, Supercoppa Italiana and Coppa Italia.

They are the only remaining Italian club to still be in three tournaments going into March.

Feyenoord fixture list very different to Inter

epa11742450 Inter Milan's players celebrate the 1-0 lead during the UEFA Champions League between Inter Milan and RB Leipzig at the Giuseppe Meazza stadium in Milan, Italy, 26 November 2024. EPA-EFE/Daniel Dal Zennaro
epa11742450 Inter Milan’s players celebrate the 1-0 lead during the UEFA Champions League between Inter Milan and RB Leipzig at the Giuseppe Meazza stadium in Milan, Italy, 26 November 2024. EPA-EFE/Daniel Dal Zennaro

This is why the extra advantage given to Feyenoord could have a genuine impact, because it was announced that the Dutch Eredivisie have accepted the appeal to postpone their match this weekend.

They were set to play Groningen on Saturday March 8, the same day that Inter are facing Monza, but their fixture has been moved to April 2.

It means new coach Robin van Persie will have a full six days of training focused only on preparation for the second leg against Inter.

The 41-year-old tactician was appointed on February 24 and drew 0-0 at home to NEC Nijmegen on his debut on March 1.

4 thought on “Feyenoord given extra advantage for Champions League with Inter”
  1. this is pretty much match fixing. altering a league fixture deliberately to effect the likely outcome of another match….

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