For what is now the third time in three seasons, Feyenoord will face AS Roma in the Europa League and we're previewing the first leg here.
Feyenoord, the reigning Dutch champions, are having a solid campaign in the Eredivisie but have been largely overshadowed by a rampant PSV side that are ten points clear at the top of the league having not lost a single game.
Arne Slot's side reached this stage of the Europa League after disappointingly finishing 3rd in their Champions League group, a group that contained Atlético Madrid, Lazio and Celtic.
They'll very much have viewed relegation to this competition as a failure at the time and will have felt underachieved having been pipped to 2nd place in their Champions League group by Lazio, a side struggling somewhat in Serie A.
Regardless, this consolation prize means they've now got a much greater opportunity to make a deep run in a European competition, albeit a lesser one, and they'll likely now share that view.
The frequency at which these two sides have met in Europe of late is quite staggering, and it's probably Feyenoord who'll feel more aggrieved at having to once again play out this tie given how things have gone for them in recent meetings, with Roma winning the 2022 Europa Conference League final 1-0 before beating Arne Slot's side 4-2 on aggregate when the two sides met in the Europa League last season.
The law of averages might suggest Feyenoord are now due their indulgence and they're coming into this game in good shape having gone unbeaten in their last eight games, winning four of their last five, but they're facing a side with a lot of quality so it'll take two big performances for them to knock the Serie A side out.
They're probably the slight underdogs for this tie but they have a real chance of exacting what would be some fairly sweet revenge.
AS Roma have had a fairly poor season on the whole by their standards and have largely underwhelmed relative to the quality at their disposal.
Last month, half a season of subpar showings culminated in the dismissal of manager José Mourinho, who was then replaced by former player and club legend Daniele De Rossi.
De Rossi's tenure has shown promise in its early weeks with Roma winning three and losing one of his first four games in charge, with the sole loss a 2-4 defeat to current league leaders and reigning champions Inter.
Roma only managed 2nd place in their Europa League group, a group containing FC Sheriff, Servette FC and Slavia Praha, which is why they've been burdened with a tougher draw here.
They'll no doubt be ruing their underperformance in the group stage but given their recent record against Feyenoord there's no reason for them to be too downbeat.
They've delivered some good performances in De Rossi's early weeks as manager and the tractory of the club now looks like an upward one following Mourinho's departure, and a win here could do wonders for their momentum and may set them up for a racing finish to the season.
For our Feyenoord vs. Roma prediction, we're going for a 1-1 draw.
Don’t forget to check out the rest of our previews, tips and offers for this weekend’s action.
