Final Season Part 1: The UEFA Diddy Conference League for Also-Rans

As we once again reach the tense end of the season, I'm here to give you the details nobody asked for on the six teams in Europe's three finals, starting with the Conference League

With Thursday’s fixtures sorted, only 6 teams remain in European competition. The wheat have firmly and often brutally separated themselves from the 106 clubs other clubs who could only dream to be in their position. In Tirana, Albania, Feyenoord Rotterdam will take on AS Roma in the inaugural UEFA Europa Conference League final. In Seville, Eintracht Frankfurt will meet Glasgow Rangers in a historic battle for the Europa League. Finally, Paris will play host to Liverpool and Real Madrid with both looking to secure the Champions League.

These sides are all there on merit, that is without a doubt. Champions League winners, domestic champions and legends of football have all fallen by the wayside as these teams have reached the pinnacles of their respective competitions. “So, what makes these teams left so special, how did they get here and what can we expect from them?” I hear you all ask. Read on for the lowdown on all of Europe’s major finalists.

Europa Conference League: Feyenoord Vs Roma

The first-ever final of UEFA’s tertiary competition pits two massive sides together. What was meant to be a competition to placate teams from Europe’s less-heralded leagues has quite a mouth-watering finale. Some may call it a stupid little diddy competition for losers like Celtic who can’t hack it in any other European competition, and in many respects it is, but there have also been some good teams with excellent players.

Thankfully, the two teams in the final are included in this. In part 1 of my 3 part series on Europe’s big finals, we’re going to take a little look at the two teams contesting the conference league final.

AS Roma

In one corner sits Roma, giants of Italian football with one of the great all-time managers in Jose Mourinho at the helm. Much like Mourinho, Roma’s great successes all lay in the distant past, but they have a chance to stab at history in Albania. Their progression this season has come thanks in no small part to Tammy Abraham. The England international has been talismanic for the Giallorossi, scoring not just many goals, but many important goals. Abraham has hit 15 Serie A goals this season with another nine in this year’s Conference League, including the winner against Leicester City in the semi-final. His mixture of striker’s instinct, predatory penalty box movement and all-round physical presence means he will be a marked man in the final.

Elsewhere on the pitch promising young centre-back Marash Kumbullah has the chance to win the European trophy on home soil and would become the first Albanian to win a major European Trophy. He will no doubt be short of motivation, something every player needs at this point.

The attacking guile of club captain Lorenzo Pellegrini will likewise be vital if Roma are to take the trophy home. Having first joined Roma aged 9, Pellegrini is the beating heart of this team. The Rome native is such a dynamic player in the middle of the pitch, capable of aiding the attack on the front foot as he did against Leicester or sitting a little deeper too, he’s a manager’s dream.

That of course leads me on to the manager. Jose Mourinho’s first season in Rome hasn’t been without its problems. He’s managed them to great victories against Leicester in the Conference League, as well as domestically against Atalanta and they currently sit 5th in the Serie A table. However, there have been plenty of poor games too. Heave defeats by Inter (three times), Milan and Juventus (twice), and even bottom of the table Venezia show that there is a lot of work to do before they can properly challenge the four teams who sit a long way above them. The 11 point gap to 4th is telling, and so too is their pair of losses to Norse minnows Bodo/Glimt, one of which saw them concede 6 goals. Despite the inauspicious start to the European campaign, they forged on, and this trophy could be what makes the club’s season. Whether or not you believe Jose is washed up, past his best, ontologically evil etc. what remains is that he has a legacy in this game, and another chance to add to it. Would you bet against him?

Feyenoord Rotterdam

In the opposite corner stands a team I’ve already written about (plz read that), but I’m not short of good things to say about them. Feyenoord has a strong crop of young players and skilled veterans that make them, spoiler alert, my favourites for the trophy. Arne Slot’s men are vicious in attack, leading the entire conference league in goals scored (28) and shots taken (174).

The key to this is that Feyenoord boasts the only player who has scored more goals than Tammy Abraham in the tournament, Nigerian forward Cyriel Dessers. Used sparingly in the Eredivise, Dessers has been red-hot on the continent. His 10 conference league goals are a just reward for a forward who embodies everything Arne Slot’s Feyenoord are about, rapid and ferocious forward play.

Creative mastermind Orkun Kökçü and the metrenomic Frederik Aursnes will look to dictate play in the middle of the park, Roma’s midfielders will have a tough job to get control as they move quickly. Luis Sinisterra, the rapid young Colombian forward who is 3rd in the Conference League scoring charts with 6, is another who can put the hurt on Roma’s defence if he chooses. Mourniho is a formidable defensive organiser but even some of his legendary back lines would have trouble against the triple threat of Dessers, Sinisterra and Kökçü. Speed, vision, creativity and clinical finishingIt’s an attack packed with quality but don’t discount their defence who are the bedrock for this.

Union Berlin, Slavia Prague, Marseille and Partizan Belgrade are just a few of the scalps that Feyenoord have taken on their road to the final and the Rotterdam side have been, for my money, the best in the competition. I wont go too in to detail on them as there is another piece you can read for that (please do), but these guys are good, they’re my favourites, expect goals, this match is one to watch.

Predictions

lt is always hard to predict how matches will go. That’s not my excuse, or a cop out, but rather a statement of fact. It says a lot about my hubris then that I am still going to try.

In truth I think Roma will struggle. The balls-to-the-wall attacking intensity could very well overwhelm the Italian giants. We’ve seen Roma frightened by sides that transition quickly and have great levels of attacking fluency. Just this week they were easily overturned by Fiorentina, another side that likes to play on the front foot. After a brief attacking flurry I Viola were ahead 2-0 and could cruise for the rest of the game. Ibanez, Mancini and Smalling are each accomplished centre-backs but they can’t afford to gift Feyenoord’s front line the space they gave to Giacomo Bonaventura and co or they will be slaughtered.

Feyenoord will probably give Roma chances, and I wouldn’t bet against Tammy Abraham taking one, but it’s a worry that the game will be done by then. The dutchmen conceded three at home to Marseille in the last round because Marseille pushed and pushed and conceded four themselves. I’m not sure Roma have the capability to match the intensity of Jorge Sampaoli’s side if they go down a goal. Roma have conceded three or more goals seven times in Serie A this season and have lost every single one.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think it will be an on-paper drubbing, but I do think Feyenoord will win in normal time. I’d make it 2-1 to the dutchmen. Dessers, Sinisterra and Abraham to score. Mourinho to lose it and get sent to the stands.

That’s just me though, tweet at me angrily if you disagree.