Having only met them twice before, United boasts of a ideal record against Feyenoord, winning both the home and away fixtures during the 1997/98 Champions League group stage. “We must find that motivation that I found myself already and I have to pass that motivation on to the players because I know the Europa League is not the big dream of every big player”.
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“We have to respect the competition”. The young players gradually will come in and get their chance and he’s known for giving players the platform to becoming a star, whether you’re young, experienced or you’re coming to an end at that level. It would be better if we had the privilege of playing on a Monday after a Thursday game to have one day [recovery] but we didn’t get that privilege.
One player who will be eager to score against United will be former Liverpool striker Dirk Kuyt, who scored 23 goals in all competitions last season. So [next month] we play Liverpool on the Monday, Fenerbahce on the Thursday and Chelsea on the Sunday.
“He [Rashford] is going to play is the only thing I can say”. I have no problems doing what I did this time leaving three or four players and play with other people because they deserve this opportunity the way they work. “We are not going to make a drama out of it”.
Tonight’s game will be played in front of a reduced capacity of 30,000 at the De Kuip stadium and nets have been erected around the pitch as Feyenoord bid to avert a repeat of the crowd trouble that marred their Europa League game against Roma last season. “Let’s imagine hypothetically if we get three points tomorrow and three points against Luhansk at home, we can breathe and face the rest of the group phase in a different way”.
“The manager will decide who is playing and who is not playing”, Herrera said.
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Mourinho will be looking for a strong reaction from his squad following Saturday’s heart-wrecking derby defeat to Manchester City and the fresh faces he brings into the team will be putting all the hard efforts to impress him. “I trust him completely and I know his future will be absolutely brilliant”, said the Portuguese, who was scathing of some of his players after the City defeat, particularly defender Eric Bailly. Feyenoord has won all five of its games in the Dutch league.
