Feyenoord vs Slavia Praha match facts

Feyenoord and Slavia Praha meet for the third time in the UEFA Europa Conference League, the two clubs going head to head again in the quarter-finals having previously been paired together during the autumn in the group stage.

• Feyenoord finished six points ahead of Slavia to top Group E undefeated and qualify directly for the round of 16, where they added two more victories in comfortably disposing of Partizan 8-3 on aggregate (5-2 a, 3-1 h), striker Cyriel Dessers taking his competition tally to six goals with one in each leg.

• Slavia, who have played in all three European club competitions this term, came through their UEFA Europa Conference League group in second place with eight points, one more than Union Berlin, then posted two 3-2 wins against Fenerbahçe to progress through the knockout round play-offs before overcoming LASK in the round of 16 (4-1 h, 3-4 a).

Previous meetings
• Feyenoord's winless record against Czech opponents ended on 30 September last year when they beat Slavia 2-1 in Rotterdam, first-half strikes from Orkun Kökçü and Bryan Linssen putting them two goals up before Tomáš Holeš reduced the deficit after the interval. In the Matchday 5 return Slavia led twice, through Peter Olayinka and Jan Kuchta, only for Dessers to equalise twice, his second leveller coming three minutes into added time.

• Feyenoord had not beaten Czech opposition in six attempts prior to that home win against Slavia, losing their first two fixtures in Rotterdam and also drawing 2-2 there against Sparta Praha en route to a 4-2 aggregate defeat in the 2012/13 UEFA Europa League play-offs. They have lost all three previous knockout ties to Czech clubs.

• Slavia, on the other hand, were undefeated on their first two trips to the Netherlands, both against Ajax in Amsterdam – a 1-0 win in the 2007/08 UEFA Champions League third qualifying round, which paved the way to their first group appearance, preceding a 2-2 draw in the following season's UEFA Cup group stage.

Form guide
Feyenoord
• Fifth in the Dutch Eredivisie last season, 29 points in arrears of champions and traditional rivals Ajax, Feyenoord secured their fifth European group stage appearance in six seasons by coming through three UEFA Europa Conference League qualifying rounds under new head coach Arne Slot at the expense of Drita, Luzern and Elfsborg.

• The Rotterdam club had failed to make further progress in four successive European group stage participations until this season, most recently finishing third in their UEFA Europa League section last term, but they had no such difficulties in UEFA Europa Conference League Group E, taking four points off both Slavia and Maccabi Haifa (0-0 a, 2-1 h) and all six off Union Berlin (3-1 h, 2-1 a).

• This is Feyenoord's first European quarter-final since they lifted the UEFA Cup for the second time 20 years ago. They defeated fellow Dutch side PSV Eindhoven on penalties after two 1-1 draws in that season's last-eight tie to make their overall record in UEFA quarter-finals W7 L4.

• Although Feyenoord were beaten in Rotterdam by both Wolfsberg (1-4) and Dinamo Zagreb (0-2) last term, those are the only two defeats they have suffered in their last 16 European home games (W11 D3). They have won all seven this season in the UEFA Europa Conference League, scoring 21 goals in the process.

Slavia
• Slavia went through the entire 2020/21 domestic season unbeaten to win a Czech league and cup double, and also enjoyed a lengthy run in the UEFA Europa League, reaching the last eight for the second time in three seasons, where they lost to Arsenal having previously overcome two other British clubs, Leicester City and Rangers, in the knockout phase.

• This European campaign, however, did not start off well for Jindřich Trpišovský's side with defeats in both qualifying ties – against Ferencváros in the UEFA Champions League and Legia Warszawa in the UEFA Europa League play-offs. That meant a switch to the UEFA Europa Conference League, where they won two, drew two and lost two of their group games, a vital 1-1 draw in Berlin on Matchday 6 enabling them to qualify as Group E runners-up at hosts Union's expense. A 6-4 aggregate defeat of Fenerbahçe then took them through the knockout round play-offs before they scored another seven goals in seeing off LASK.

• This is Slavia's third quarter-final appearance in four European campaigns. They lost to English opposition in the last eight of the UEFA Europa League in 2018/19 (0-1 h, 3-4 a to Chelsea) and 2020/21 (1-1 a, 0-4 h to Arsenal), making their all-time record in European quarter-finals W1 L4, the victory having come at the first attempt, after extra time on away goals against Roma in the 1995/96 UEFA Cup (2-0 h, 1-3 a aet).

• Slavia lost their first four European away matches this season, including the Group E games in Rotterdam and at Maccabi Haifa (0-1), before drawing against Union and then beating Fenerbahçe. The subsequent defeat against LASK in Austria, in which they led 3-1 and had two players sent off, made the Czech club's away record in their last three European knockout phase campaigns W4 D2 L2, the only other loss that seven-goal thriller at Chelsea three years ago.

Links and trivia
• Opposing forwards Dessers and Olayinka both play international football for Nigeria.

• Patrik Wålemark (Feyenoord) and Aiham Ousou (Slavia) are current Swedish Under-21 internationals.

• Gernot Trauner (Feyenoord) and Mads Emil Madsen (Slavia Praha) were team-mates at LASK in 2020/21.

• Slavia midfielder Holeš scored his first competitive goal for the Czech Republic in their 2-0 win against the Netherlands in the UEFA EURO 2020 round of 16 – and was voted Star of the Match. Lukáš Masopust, Petr Ševčík and substitute Michael Krmenčík also featured in the game.

• Slavia twins Miloš and Adam Pudil celebrate their 17th birthday on the day of the game.

• Feyenoord are one of two Dutch teams in the UEFA Europa Conference League quarter-finals, along with PSV Eindhoven. No other nation has more than one representative. Feyenoord and PSV are two of three former European Cup/UEFA Champions League winners in the quarter-final line-up – along with Marseille.

• Slavia are one of two reigning domestic champions participating in the UEFA Europa Conference League knockout round play-offs, the other Norwegian title holders Bodø/Glimt. They are also one of three domestic cup holders in the field, alongside Leicester City and PAOK.

• Slavia are the only Czech club still involved in this season's three European club competitions.

• While Feyenoord won 2-0 at home to Willem II last weekend to stay third in the Eredivisie, 11 points adrift of leaders Ajax, Slavia drew 1-1 away to Viktoria Plzeň in a top-of-the-table Czech Liga clash, thereby remaining a point behind their hosts after 27 matches.

• The winners of this tie will face Marseille or PAOK in the semi-final.