Well, that was exciting at the start … and at the end. Such a shame about the middle, but you can’t have everything. Thanks for reading this MBM. Nighty night! Freiburg 3-2 Lens (aet; agg 3-2) Qarabag 2-3 Braga (aet; agg 6-5) Rennes 3-2 AC Milan (agg 3-5) Toulouse 0-0 Benfica (agg 1-2) Marseille 3-1 Shakhtar Donetsk (agg 5-3) Roma 1-1 Feyenoord (aet; agg 2-2, Roma win 4-2 on pens ) Sparta Prague 4-1 Galatasaray (agg 6-4) Sporting 1-1 Young Boys (agg 4-2) FULL TIME: Roma 1-1 Feyenoord (agg 2-2; Roma win 4-2 on penalties) For the third season running, Roma put paid to Feyenoord’s European dreams! They’re through to the last 16. The draw to come on Friday. PENALTIES: Roma 4-2 Feyenoord. Zalewski larrups an emphatic spot kick towards the top left, and Roma are through! PENALTIES: Roma 3-2 Feyenoord. Hartman syncopates his run but gets away with it. His shot towards the bottom left squeaks past Svilar’s hand. PENALTIES: Roma 3-1 Feyenoord. Aouar belts calmly into the bottom right, and Feyenoord are on the brink now. PENALTIES: Roma 2-1 Feyenoord. Jahanbakhsh, sent on for this, misses. Just like Hancko before him, he flips a weak effort to the left, and Svilar is equal to it, tipping around the post. Advantage Roma! PENALTIES: Roma 2-1 Feyenoord. Cristante whips into the top-right corner, sending Wellenreuther the wrong way. That’s unstoppable. PENALTIES: Roma 1-1 Feyenoord. Hancko goes left … but Svilar goes the right way, and palms around the post! That wasn’t a great effort either. Full marks to both keepers, though! PENALTIES: Roma 1-1 Feyenoord. Lukaku, fresh from missing two late chances in extra time, scuffs a dismal effort towards the bottom right. Wellenreuther guesses correctly and flops over it. PENALTIES: Roma 1-1 Feyenoord. Ueda up first for the visitors. Deafening whistles. He gulps … then sends Svilar the wrong way and the ball into the bottom left. PENALTIES: Roma 1-0 Feyenoord. Paredes up first. He fires past Wellenreuther into the bottom left. Here we go, then. Roma going first! Roma’s record in Uefa penalty shoot-outs: W1 L4. 4-2 v Norrköping, 1982-83 Uefa Cup second round 3-4 v Liverpool, 1983-84 European Cup final 3-4 v Real Zaragoza, 1986-87 European Cup Winners’ Cup first round 6-7 v Arsenal, 2008-09 Champions League round of 16 1-4 v Sevilla, 2022-23 Uefa Europa League final Feyenoord’s record in Uefa penalty shoot-outs: W2 L0. 5-3 v Sion, 1991-92 European Cup Winners’ Cup second round 5-4 v PSV Eindhoven, 2001-02 Uefa Cup quarter-final EXTRA TIME, FULL TIME: Roma 1-1 Feyenoord (agg 2-2) … Lukaku heads down and up over the bar! He’s been feeding off scraps all night, only to have two big chances in extra-time added time! Penalties it is! ET 30 min +1: All of a sudden, Lukaku comes to life! He’s slipped into the box down the inside-right channel and sends a low drive across Wellenreuther, who tips around the box. And from the resulting corner … ET 30 min: Alireza Jahanbakhsh comes on with penalties in mind. Mats Wieffer makes way. There will be one additional minute. ET 29 min: Çelik drives in from the right, and drives in hard. His sheer determination nearly earns a huge slice of luck, but after evading a couple of challenges and reaching the edge of the D, his good fortune runs out and he loses control. For a second, things were opening up dramatically there. ET 27 min: Lukaku bustles to win a header on the edge of the Feyenoord box. That hard work allows Zalewski to dribble into the area from the left … but with options inside, he slips over and the chance is gone. ET 25 min: Baldanzi crosses low from the left, looking for Lukaku in the middle. Wellenreuther smothers at his feet. ET 24 min: … but they do then win a free kick out on the right touchline. Ivanušec swings it into a crowded mixer, but Svilar once again does his job without fuss, plucking the ball from the sky. ET 23 min: Geertruida works the ball to Minteh on the right. Minteh enters the box and only has Svilar to beat, albeit from a tight angle. His rising shot towards the near post is easily batted away, and Feyenoord don’t even get a corner as a consolation prize. ET 21 min: Angeliño tries to get the better of Wieffer down the left but fails. He wants a free kick, claiming to have been wrestled to the floor, but there’s no foul. Had the referee decided otherwise, he might have been forced to show Wieffer a second yellow. But it’s all moot. Only Angeliño seems animated by it all, to be fair. ET 20 min: Zalewski is cut down by Timber as he tries to cut infield from the left. A free kick in a dangerous position. Everyone lines up on the edge of the box waiting for Angeliño’s delivery … but it’s not worth that wait, and Hartman heads clear. Say what you like about this game, the goalkeepers should be pretty fresh for the shoot-out. They’ve hardly been worked at all. ET 18 min: Lukaku caught offside under a long ball now. It’s not been his night. Yet. ET 17 min: Wieffer is booked for planting an elbow on the back of Paredes’s head. He’ll miss the first leg of the next round if his team make it. ET 16 min: Lukaku attempts to turn on a sixpence and slip Baldanzi clear down the middle. But once again the distance between his feet betrays him, and the ball gets stuck. Feyenoord get the second half of extra time underway. Roma have replaced Leonardo Spinazzola with Angeliño. Roll up for the roundup … but don’t forget to come back here for the denouement! You’ve come this far, after all. EXTRA TIME, HALF TIME: Roma 1-1 Feyenoord (agg 2-2) Feyenoord now look the more dangerous. Roma were running on fumes during that first period of extra time. ET 14 min: Ueda clears the bar in the rugby-conversion style. What a waste. ET 13 min: Dybala, totally out of gas, is replaced by Baldanzi. Then N’Dicka is booked for coming through the back of Ueda. A free kick, 25 yards out, to the left of centre. ET 11 min: Wieffer and Minteh combine again down the inside-right channel. The ball’s rolled into the box but Geertruida can’t quite meet it on the penalty spot. Had he got there, he was one on one with the keeper. A lovely move. Roma suddenly look dead on their feet. ET 10 min: Wieffer nearly works space for a shot in the Roma box. Not quite, but the ball’s worked to Hartman on the left. He crosses long to earn a corner. The set piece is easily cleared, but Roma are suddenly struggling and the home fans have slipped into Whistle Mode. ET 8 min: Minteh drives again down the right but, with Ueda in the middle, dribbles down a cul-de-sac instead. The ball clanks off his shin and squirts through to Svilar. The final-third decisions have been lacking, but at least Feyenoord are finally showing a bit of ambition in attack again. ET 6 min: Wieffer and Minteh combine briskly down the right, but when the latter cuts back for the former, hesitation rather than shooting is the order of the day. That’s no good at all. ET 4 min: Ivanušec cuts in from the left and tries to make like Pellegrini, all those hours ago. His curler towards the right-hand side of the net is easily snaffled by Svilar. ET 3 min: It’s whipped towards the near post, where Cristante should flick a header home from close range. But he hits his nearest opponent and has to settle for another corner. That one’s hit far too long. Goal kick. ET 2 min: Zalewski’s first contribution is to win a corner down the left. Roma get the first half of extra time underway. Stephan El Shaarawy has been replaced by Nicola Zalewski. The other three late kick-offs have all been settled within the regulation 90 … Marseille 3-1 Shakhtar Donetsk (agg 5-3) Sparta Prague 4-1 Galatasaray (agg 6-4) Sporting 1-1 Young Boys (HT; agg 4-2) … so Marseille, Sparta Prague and Sporting advance along with earlier winners Qarabag, Milan, Freiburg and Benfica. Will Roma or Feyenoord join them all in Friday’s round-of-16 draw? We’re about to find out, even if there must be penalties! FULL TIME: Roma 1-1 Feyenoord (agg 2-2) Extra time it is! 90 min +5: … Wieffer eyebrows a danger-free header wide left. 90 min +4: Timber finds a bit of space down the left and loops a cross to the far stick. Spinazzola doesn’t realise there’s nobody behind him, and heads out for a corner. From which … 90 min +3: El Shaarawy tries to get something going down the left, but can only run the ball out for a goal kick. 90 min +2: Roma pass it around the back. No real momentum. Extra time looms large now, and the hosts don’t seem to mind. 90 min +1: There will be six additional minutes. The first passes without incident. 90 min: Timber comes slicing through Dybala, and that’s a no-brainer of a booking. He’ll miss the first leg of the next round should Feyenoord go through. 89 min: El Shaarawy on the edge of the D. He slips the ball to his right for Lukaku. For a split second, it looks like this could be the moment! But Lukaku allows the ball to clank between his feet, allowing Wellenreuther to smother. 87 min: Plenty of singing in the stands. A rare old atmosphere. Loud. The Stadio Olimpico bouncing. It’s an incongruous soundtrack to the slow, stodgy play. 85 min: Llorente looks very groggy as he’s bundled onto the stretcher, and then onto the cart. Off he goes. Evan N’Dicka, fresh from winning the Afcon with Ivory Coast, returns to the club scene. 83 min: Llorente looks to have come off worse. He’s flat out on his back, an icepack pressed onto the top of his head. On comes the medical truck. 82 min: Llorente and Ueda accidentally clash in mid-air. On come the medics to check their noggins. 81 min: Cristante sprays a long ball down the left for El Shaarawy, who is once again denied on the edge of the box by Wellenreuther, who again reads the danger perfectly to claim. 79 min: Hartman barges his way down the left, reaches the byline, and storms into the box. His low cross can’t find Ueda in the middle, but for the first time in a long while, Feyenoord have shown a little something in attack. 78 min: Roma’s goalscorer has already departed; now Feyenoord’s takes his leave too. Giménez, just back from injury, makes way for Ueda. 76 min: Çelik romps down the right towards the byline. He looks to set up Lukaku with a heading opportunity at the near post, but his cross is the perfect height for Wellenreuther, who punches spectacularly clear. 75 min: Mancini accidentally elbows Gimenez upside the head, and the game stops yet again. This match promised so much early doors. Such a shame. 74 min: Aouar rolls a pass down the left for El Shaarawy, who enters the box and attempts a Robbie Fowler-style floated chip over Wellenreuther from a tight angle. Nope! The ball clears the bar easily and it’s a goal kick. 73 min: Dybala is seeing an awful lot of the ball now. He drops deep before releasing Çelik into space on the right. Çelik earns a corner that’s worked from right to left … and then Aouar, perhaps not up to the speed of the game yet, is carelessly caught offside. 71 min: Both teams make another change. Bart Nieuwkoop makes way for Yankuba Minteh, while Roma’s captain and goalscorer Lorenzo Pellegrini departs, to be replaced by Houssem Aouar. 70 min: Dybala spins into space down the middle and rolls a forensic pass down the left channel in the hope of releasing El Shaarawy. He nearly does so, but Wellenreuther comes to the edge of his area to slide and claim, just before the Roma winger can reach the ball. Had he mistimed that save, a penalty was in the offing. 69 min: Hartman tries to release Giménez down the left but the ball’s deflected and he’s forced to settle for Feyenoord’s first corner of the match. It wasn’t worth waiting for. Ivanušec takes, and can’t beat the first man. 67 min: Roma make their first change. Zeki Çelik comes on for Karsdorp. 66 min: Hancko is booked for a cynical tug on Dybala. The free kick leads to a corner, which in turn leads to naff all. This match needs a large splash of inspiration from somewhere. 65 min: El Shaarawy is sent scampering down the left after Dybala’s raking diagonal pass. He enters the area only to miscontrol, allowing Karsdrop and Beelen to close him down and clear. 63 min: This was top-notch entertainment for the first 20 minutes or so. Since then, it’s degenerated into a slightly ill-tempered whistle-fest. Nothing particularly egregious going on, but a lot of small irritating fouls. 61 min: Ivanušec’s first act is to clip Dybala on the heel. Dybala, who was already complaining about repeated fouling, rolls around theatrically, making sure the referee knows what’s going on and what he thinks about it. He’s already performed a one-two-three mime with his fingers after another minor Feyenoord transgression. Next foul a yellow? 59 min: Feyenoord make a double change, replacing Stengs and Paixão with Zerrouki and Ivanušec. 57 min: El Shaarawy tries to get a loose ball under control just inside the box. He high kicks and is clipped in mid-air by a similarly high-kicking Stengs. El Shaarawy goes down. You’ve seen penalties gives for much less in the Premier League, but it’s not going to be given here. Roma not happy. 55 min: From the free kick, Pellegrini and Paredes attempt to advance the ball goalwards in a zig-zag pattern. Feyenoord clear easily and another long hoof nearly sends Giménez clear. Svilar comes out of his box to blooter clear. 54 min: Dybala is needlessly clipped by Hartman, 35 yards out. Dybala was going nowhere, and now the hosts can line up on the edge of the box, waiting for a free kick to be delivered. 53 min: Llorente makes a meal of dealing with a long punt down the middle, and nearly lets Paixão in. He makes up for his error by closing down Paixão and ensuring he doesn’t get a shot away. 51 min: Nothing comes of the set piece. But Roma have picked up where they left off: in the ascendency, looking much the more likely to score. Feyenoord are having trouble getting it to stick up the other end. 50 min: El Shaarawy’s left-wing cross is half cleared by Timber. Dybala meets the dropping ball and sends a volley wide left. A little nick means it’s a corner. 48 min: Dybala is skittled 40 yards out, and it’s a free kick to Roma, a chance to line up on the edge of the box. Dybala takes it himself but can’t find Lukaku and the visitors clear their lines. 47 min: A reminder that we’ll be going to extra time if nobody finds a winner. Feyenoord get the second half underway. No changes. Elsewhere in the Europa League … the early kick-offs have all been decided, with Freiburg, Qarabag, Milan and Benfica going into the pot for Friday’s last-16 draw. Freiburg 3-2 Lens (aet; agg 3-2) Qarabag 2-3 Braga (aet; agg 6-5) Rennes 3-2 AC Milan (agg 3-5) Toulouse 0-0 Benfica (agg 1-2) Meanwhile here’s the state of play in the other late kick-offs … Marseille 1-1 Shakhtar Donetsk (HT; agg 3-3) Sparta Prague 1-1 Galatasaray (HT; agg 3-4) Sporting 1-0 Young Boys (HT; agg 4-1) As the teams leave the field, there’s a mild kerfuffle on the touchline between Rick Karsdorp and Feyenoord manager Arne Slot. The latter wasn’t happy with Karsdrop’s insistence that Igor Paixão had whacked him in the mouth just before the whistle went. There wasn’t much in the challenge, to be fair, and there’s not a lot in this argument either. Still, it illustrates how this match has threatened to boil over on a couple of occasions without quite doing so … and it may not take much to light the touchpaper in the second half. Tee hee! HALF TIME: Roma 1-1 Feyenoord (agg 2-2) Roma spend the added time pressing forward, but can’t create anything, and the whistle goes for half-time. Since the equaliser, they’ve been the much more likely scorers. But as things stand, nothing separates the teams. 45 min: There will be two added minutes. 44 min: Spinazzola is causing all manner of bother down the left flank. He twists Nieuwkoop inside out, like an old sock, and wins a corner. When the ball comes in, Wellenreuther flaps at it, and a quick game of head tennis breaks out, but nobody in red can aim the ball goalwards and the danger soon passes. 42 min: Giménez goes down and requires a little treatment. He’s up and about again soon enough. 41 min: Spinazzola dribbles down the left before sending Geertruida off to the Colosseum with a drop of the shoulder. He digs out a cross but it doesn’t reach Lukaku. The visitors again clear their lines. Spinazzola looks to have the beating of Geertruida, not least because the Feyenoord right-back is on a booking. 39 min: For the first time in the evening, the pace drops. You can’t really blame anyone. All of these lads have been pelting around at full tilt since the get-go, and with great feeling to boot. 37 min: Spinazzola breezes down the left and crosses. A flick on towards Lukaku, who can’t get a powerful enough header away. Beelen clears, but Roma come again, Karsdorp chesting down to the right of the D and attempting to Le Tissier a volley goalwards. Into the stand it disappears. Again, a full ten out of ten on the old Ambition-o-meter™. 35 min: Cristante tries to score with a volley from the best part of 30 yards. Full marks for ambition, but the odds weren’t exactly in his favour. Goal kick. 33 min: El Shaarawy drives down the left again. He cuts back again, this time to Spinazzola, who crosses into a crowded box. Feyenoord deal with the danger, but Roma are having quite a bit of joy down this left flank, where their equaliser came from. 31 min: Cristante barrels down the right and is brought down by Wieffer’s garden-variety foul. Roma surround the referee again, but that’s not a booking, just a run-of-the-mill clatter. A few rags in danger of being misplaced here. 29 min: A ball descends from outer space. Dybala brings it to heel with an outrageous flash of his left boot. Audible gasps at the other-worldly control. Can one featherlite touch be worth price of admission alone? Yes. 27 min: … and now Geertruida and Pellegrini high-kick each other. There’s not much in it, but Pellegrini makes the most of it, and given the yellow just awarded to Paredes, plus much encouragement from the home team and their supporters, the Feyenoord man goes into the book as well. 26 min: Another yellow card for Roma, as Paredes high-kicks clumsily at the nearby Nieuwkoop while contesting a loose ball. 24 min: Karsdorp slides a clever diagonal pass from the right towards Lukaku, but Beelen and Hancko launch a pincer movement to crowd the striker out of it. 22 min: Lukaku, on the edge of the Feyenoord D, cushions a ball into the road of Pellegrini, who whistles a shot wide right. This is non-stop fun. 21 min: Pellegrini advances down the left elegantly. He then whips a high in-swinger into the box. Cristante, striding down the middle, rises above the out-rushing Wellenreuther and eyebrows a header over the keeper and inches wide of the right-hand post. So close to a second for Roma! 20 min: Feyenoord paint some pretty triangles in the centre of the pitch. Stengs, Paixão and Hartman then combine to advance the ball towards the right flank, some very crisp and confident passing, but the final cross is no good. Lovely play, though. 18 min: The free kick’s worked from right to left. Timber makes it to the byline and cuts back for Giménez, who can only shank high and wide left from close range, under pressure from Pellegrini. This match could end up as anything. 17 min: Spinazzola goes into the book for tugging back Nieuwkoop as he makes his way down the Feyenoord right. A free kick in a very dangerous position here. Everyone piles into the box. GOAL! Roma 1-1 Feyenoord (Pellegrini 15); agg 2-2 Roma’s captain gets his team back on terms with a beauty! El Shaarawy pops up along the left channel and rolls back to Pellegrini, just to the left of the D. He takes a touch, opens his body, and power-strokes an unstoppable shot across Wellenreuther and into the top-right corner. What a start to this game! 14 min: Wieffer is seeing a lot of the ball. Roma will need to deal with this, because despite that aforementioned miss, he looks in the mood. 12 min: This match is absurd! Now Wieffer goes racing clear down the middle, only for his fierce low shot to be parried by Svilar. That would have really put the cat among the pigeons. 11 min: Roma want a penalty, arguing that amid the hubbub, Llorente was clipped by Stengs. But neither referee nor VAR shows any interest in giving one, Llorente hanging in a leg and looking for contact. Shades of Sterling v Walker in the Manchester City v Chelsea match last weekend. 10 min: The corner’s hit long. Mancini heads goalwards. Hancko clears off the line! Then a scramble, before El Shaarawy drags a shot wide left. Wow. 9 min: Roma respond well, and Dybala takes a speculative whack from the edge of the box. Blocked. Then the hosts come again, Karsdorp crossing low from the right to win a corner. The hosts load the box. Paredes to take. 7 min: There’s a long VAR check, but the ball clearly went in off the edge of his shoulder. The goal stands! Silence momentarily descends before the home fans emit a scream of defiance. Game on! GOAL! Roma 0-1 Feyenoord (Giménez 5); agg 1-2 Wieffer spins elegantly down the left flank. He sends Hartman away. A low cross fizzes through to Nieuwkoop, who prods back across goal towards Giménez, six yards out and level with the left-hand post. Giménez leans into it, Rasmus Hojlund v Luton style, and the ball pings off his left shoulder and in! 4 min: It’s all a bit frenzied at the moment. Nobody’s settled yet. Multiple-pass sequences at a premium. 2 min: The crowd are giving it plenty. Feyenoord keeper Wellenreuther tries to draw some of the heat by taking an age over a clearance. Nice idea, in theory. Bedlam, bedlam, bedlam. Roma get the ball rolling. Excited? Matt Burtz certainly is! “Never has a European tie had my name written all over it more than this one. Not only have I attended games at both the Stadio Olimpico and De Kuip (with each home team scoring three goals in a victory), but former Everton man Romelu Lukaku features prominently for Roma. Here’s hoping this one is a cracker.” The teams are out! Roma are used to winning European ties these days, and the atmosphere at the Stadio Olimpico is accordingly anticipatory. Roma in their deep red, Feyenoord in a third-choice white kit with green pinstripe that screams Northern Ireland at España 82. We’ll be off in a couple of minutes! Anyway, back to the Stadio Olimpico. Roma are coming off the back of a comfortable 3-0 weekend win at Frosinone; they’re currently sixth in Serie A, 22 points adrift of runaway leaders Internazionale. Feyenoord were less impressive in the Eredivisie, leaving it late to beat the ten men of RKC Waalwijk by a single goal. They’re second in the table, but a distant ten points behind leaders PSV Eindhoven. There are three other Europa League ties kicking off at 8pm. A reminder that away goals are no longer a thing, and these rubbers can go all the way to a penalty shoot-out if nothing’s decided after regulation and extra time. Marseille v Shakhtar Donetsk (agg 2-2) Sparta Prague v Galatasaray (agg 2-3) Sporting v Young Boys (agg 3-1) A couple of the ties have already been decided. A couple more are going to extra time and, who knows, penalties. Here are the final scores of the early kick-offs … Freiburg 2-2 Lens (agg 2-2; extra time to be played) Qarabag 0-2 Braga (agg 4-4; extra time to be played) Rennes 3-2 AC Milan (agg 3-5) Toulouse 0-0 Benfica (agg 1-2) Roma make two changes to their starting XI from the first leg. Stephan El Shaarawy and Bryan Cristante return; Nicola Zalewski drops to the bench while Edoardo Bove is suspended. Feyenoord also make two changes from the first leg. Their leading scorer Santiago Giménez – 21 goals so far this season – and captain Lutsharel Geertruida are back; Ramiz Zerrouki and Yankuba Minteh drop to the bench. The teams Roma: Svilar, Karsdorp, Mancini, Llorente, Spinazzola, Cristante, Paredes, Pellegrini, Dybala, Lukaku, El Shaarawy. Subs: Rui Patricio, N’Dicka, Smalling, Azmoun, Celik, Sanches, Aouar, Baldanzi, Zalewski, Boer, Costa, Angelino. Feyenoord: Wellenreuther, Geertruida, Beelen, Hancko, Nieuwkoop, Wieffer, Timber, Hartman, Stengs, Igor Paixao, Gimenez. Subs: Zerrouki, Jahanbakhsh, Ueda, Lopez, Ivanusec, Minteh, Sauer, Read, Milambo, Lamprou, Lingr, van Sas. Referee: Jesus Gil Manzano (Spain). Preamble It’s the second leg of the most eye-catching tie in the Europa League knockout play-offs. Both of these world-famous clubs have won this competition before, if you define your terms broadly, generously and in good faith: Feyenoord lifted the Uefa Cup in 1974 and 2002, while Roma won the 1961 edition of the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, not officially recognised by Uefa as a predecessor of today’s tournament, but widely considered to be exactly that by just about everyone other than extreme pedants or The Man. You get it. Of the two clubs, Feyenoord have the greater European pedigree, on account of their 1970 European Cup win. But Roma have been their bosses in recent years. In 2022, Jose Mourinho’s Giallorossi beat Feyenoord in the first-ever final of the Europa Conference League. Then last season, they did a number on the men from Rotterdam again, this time in the quarter-finals of the Europa League, en route to a Budapest final they’d lose on penalties to Sevilla. How they’d love to go one better this time under new boss Daniele De Rossi. They’re favourites to end Feyenoord’s European dreams for a third straight season, on account of coming away from De Kuip last week with a 1-1 draw. Igor Paixão had given the reigning Dutch champions a half-time lead before Romelu Lukaku’s 21st strike in his last 18 Europa League appearances levelled things up in the second half. That leaves Arne Slot’s men battling against history: Roma have never lost at home to a side from the Netherlands, while Feyenoord have won only two of their previous 12 European ties in which they’d drawn the first leg at home. Kick off at the Stadio Olimpico is 8pm GMT, 9pm local. It’s on!