Heavily-rotated Feyenoord team loses 1-0 away to Portugese side Braga in Europa League
Feyenoord started their UEFA Europa League campaign with a defeat on Wednesday evening. A heavily rotated side was beaten 1-0 by Portuguese side Braga due to a goal in the 79th minute by the Spanish forward Fran Navarro.
Robin van Persie made seven changes to his lineup compared to the 3-3 draw against AZ Alkmaar last Sunday in the Eredivisie. This is just the second time in the last 13 seasons that a manager of the Rotterdam club has made that many changes for a European game.
The biggest addition to the team was Malcolm Jeng. The center back is on loan from Stade Reims. Van Persie also brought in a whole new attack with Gaoussou Diarra, Gonçalo Borges, and Casper Tengstedt replacing Aymen Sliti, Ayase Ueda, and Anis Hadj Moussa.
The high number of changes was visible in Feyenoord’s performance. The Rotterdammers struggled to create any chances of note throughout the game, with the only notable moments being substitute Cyle Larin hitting the post and scoring from offside positions.
Braga did not do much better. Carlos Vicens' side has not had the best start to the season in the Portuguese league, and it showed in how little they were able to create.
These two issues resulted in a dull game with very few chances. The only time a player came close to finding the net in the first half was right before halftime when Ricardo Horta’s effort went inches wide of the post.
This continued in the second half, but the home team found the net in the 79th minute. A low cross from the wingback Lelo was hit into the near corner via the inside of the post by substitute Fran Navarro.
Although Feyenoord were now playing with more of their attacking starters in Luciano Valente and Hadj Moussa, they were unable to create any chances in the closing stages, and they left the Braga Municipal Stadium with a loss.
