That game was legendary, loved it !
Feyenoord were a great opponent. I say this sincerely. From an athletic and pressure point of view, the Rotterdam club was superior to our team. Roma could only count on a superior technical rate (not by much though), on a solid defense (Ibanez, Mancini and especially Smalling and Rui Patricio were sumptuous) and on a coach accustomed to winning the finals (a coach who believes less in the show and more in substance). From the first moments I thought that the only way to beat Feyenoord was to "play Italian": counterattack, tenacity and solid defense. This has been done. The refereeing was fairly fair. I criticize Kovacs, not so much for a couple of yellow cards not given to some Feyenoord players, but I criticize Senesi's failure to send for a last man foul on Abraham. That mistake, if Feyenoord had drawn, would have led to defeat. Roma would have been annihilated in extra time. Many of our players were too tired and, although Mourinho had got the changes right (especially by inserting Spinazzola), I don't think it would have been enough to resist the fury of the Dutch club players (the same fury that for 15 minutes in the second half brought us almost to the collapse).It was exactly the game that was predicted. If Feyenoord would have scored in the first five minutes of the second half, the probably would have pressed Roma over the edge. But after minute 60 it was done and dusted.