Coach Arne Slot on Feyenoord's Europa League quarter-final rematch with Roma

Last season, Arne Slot received the Rinus Michels Award for the best Dutch coach of 2021/22, as selected by his peers. A proud accolade, but after his Feyenoord team had lost the UEFA Europa Conference League final 1-0 to José Mourinho's Roma, it was a mere consolation prize for the 44-year-old.

Now, in his second full season in Rotterdam, Slot's side top the Dutch league standings and are through to the last eight of the UEFA Europa League, where they will once more tangle with the Giallorossi. As he spoke to UEFA.com, Slot insisted there was no talk of revenge among his much-changed squad, but he is hoping lessons have been learned from Feyenoord's disappointment in Tirana.

On expectations for this tie

I think I can use the same words as six or nine months ago. I believe it would not be smart to concede a goal. It's never smart to do that, but especially not against Roma. They are difficult to score against, and when it's difficult to score against a team, despite our great goalscoring ability, you must ensure that they do not score with their first chance like last time.

For [the players], it's mostly a great opportunity to play against a big club like Roma in the quarter-finals. We will try to prepare them for the football part, and that may include some [footage from] last year but not much because feelings of revenge might be present for three or four players – though not the majority as they were not there. For me, [revenge] is not an additional motivation. How much motivation do you need if you can play a European quarter-final with Feyenoord?

On the 2022 final meeting

What we'd feared beforehand came true, which is that one chance might be enough for them to win the match. And they did get that chance: a good pass, good first touch, great goal. Our defenders did a great job for 89 minutes, but we knew in advance that against Roma, you shouldn't concede a goal with the first chance they get, because then it will be extremely difficult to score a goal ourselves.

At the start of the second half, we had a couple of great chances, but, as time passed, it became more difficult for us because they were very well equipped to keep that 1-0 lead. Except for some minor chances, and a handball situation that unfortunately wasn't judged in our favour, we didn't create many chances to score the equaliser. So, in the end, it was a very disappointing evening for us.

On what has changed since that final in Tirana

They have only got better; they play with better quality. [Paulo] Dybala is the most eye-catching player they have added. One we know well is Georginio Wijnaldum. [Andrea] Belotti, the new striker. [Nemanja] Matić, who had a fantastic record with Manchester United. They are not the same team as last year. They have even more football quality than last year, so you can't really compare. But their playing style, with five defenders, is still the same.

[This Feyenoord side] is pretty much a new team. Seven players who were in the starting line-up for the final last year are not with us any more. Some we had on loan, some we sold. We have had to acquire 15 or 16 new players. We have an even younger team: I think the average is even lower than last year. The way we play and our idea of entertaining the fans with attacking football, that has not changed.