Why are Manchester City not supposed to take Feyenoord lightly?
The Dutch side won the Eredivisie last year in dramatic fashion with a hat-trick by folk hero Dirk Kuyt in the final and title clinching game of the season.
Feyenoord are back in this competition after a long gap of 15 years.
The Dutch side have started their current campaign in emphatic fashion as well with 4 wins in 4 games and 12 goals scored while conceding just 3.
It will be the first time the two sides have met competitively, Feyenoord however, showed their promise last season as they defeated City’s rivals Manchester United last season in the Europa League group stages.
The home side haven’t won a game in the competition for 16 years, but are unbeaten at home since their 1-0 defeat to Fenerbahce on matchday six of their Europa League campaign last term.
Feyenoord’s overall record against English teams is seven wins, five draws and 11 losses with five of those wins coming at home. City’s record against Dutch sides is two wins, two draws and one loss, which came on their last visit to Ajax when they lost 3-1 in 2012.
Feyenoord are making their fifth Champions League appearance – their first since 2002/03, the third-most for a Dutch side after PSV (15) and Ajax (13).
The visitors have never made the knockout stages of the Champions League in their four previous participations. The Dutch side have won only two of their last 15 Champions League games (D6 L7).
This is Man City’s seventh consecutive Champions League participation. They have made it past the Last 16 only once, it was in 2015/16 when they reached the semi-finals (knocked out by Real Madrid).
Manchester City have won none of their last six away games in the Champions League (D3 L3), conceding 14 goals in the process.
Steven Berghuis is in top form for the Rotterdam based side. The winger had an extremely uneventful spell in England for Watford. He managed to make just 9 appearances and was then shipped out to Feyenoord on loan where he scored 7 goals in 30 appearances and prompted Van Bronckhorst to snap him up. He has already started this season with a bang scoring four in four games so far.
Another familiar player for some die-hard Premier League fans is Karim-Al-Ahmadi. The former Aston Villa medio was poor in England but has gone from strength to strength at Feyenoord and is a vital part of the side. He was named the Eredivisie player of the season as well and he will hope to use his knowledge about the Blues to help his side find a way past City.
