FOR a tournament that was derided in some quarters when launched, the Europa Conference League is big news these days…particularly to Jose Mourinho and his Roma team who face Feyenoord in Albania.
Two heavyweight names in European history have given this prestige and the Tirana showdown is intriguing between two clubs who have varying degrees of success in previous European finals.
Roma have lost their previous two finals – the 1984 European Cup Final and the 1991 UEFA Cup Final. While, the Rotterdam side have won all three of their previous finals, the first of which was a win against Celtic in the 1970 European Cup.
Moving on to the present day and both sides have had disappointing domestic campaigns. Feyenoord finished in third place in the Eredivisie, 12 points behind winners Ajax.
While Roma could only finish a distant sixth and 23 points behind winners AC Milan. But Mourinho will be going for his fifth European success tonight and it would be his third different trophy.
And as Eintracht Frankfurt showed last week, domestic form means little in Europe.
Feyenoord beat the likes of Slavia Prague and Marseilles to get to Tirana, while Roma had to see off clubs like Leicester City and Bodo/Glimt.
How the bookies view it
Roma are favourites and can be backed at 17/12 with SBK. Feyenoord are 11/5 with Paddy Power. The draw in 90 minutes is 5/2 with William Hill.
The Italians are 8/13 to lift the trophy with the Dutch outfit 6/5 with bet365.
Recent head to heads
The clubs played once in the Europa League in 2015. Roma won 2-1 in Rotterdam and it was a 1-1 draw in Rome.
Here's Feyenoord securing a goalless draw in Marseilles to qualify in the semi-final below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdl2dLFq9wQ
Players to watch
Feyenoord's Cyriel Dessers is the tournament's top scorer on ten goals. The Nigerian has 20 goals for club and country this season and is 21/10 to score anytime in 90 minutes with bet365.
He is one goal ahead of Tammy Abraham of Roma and the ex-Chelsea star has an outstanding 29 goals for the season. He is 5/4 to score anytime with the same firm.
Anything else catch the eye?
This could be a Jose Mourinho masterclass in doing enough to get the job done here and his Roma side could neutralise the Dutch attack and take the trophy to the Italian capital.
Feyenoord love a goal or two, but they are up against a man who has never lost a European final and knows how to do enough to get the job done. It could be that a goal could be enough, but the Roma to win and under 2.5 goals at 4/1 shout could be the one with BetVictor.
Tammy Abraham signed off with a double against Torino in his last game and also netted the decisive goal against Leicester. It's 9/2 with bet365 for a betbuilder of him to score and Roma to win in 90 minutes.
This UEFA Europa League Conference match between Roma and Feyenoord will be played on May 25, 2022 and kick off at 20:00. Check below for our tipsters best Roma vs Feyenoord prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.