Match report
14 October 2026
De Kuip, Rotterdam · Away
- Attendance
- 1,042 in Como 1907 away sector
- Referee
- Donatas Rumšas
Starting lineups
Feyenoord
Tjark Ernst · Givairo Read · Jeremiah St. Juste · Mika Mármol · Javi López · Gjivai Zechiël · Charles Vanhoutte · Oussama Targhalline · Anis Hadj Moussa · Nacho Ferri · Luciano Valente
Head coach: Giovanni van Bronckhorst
Used substitutes
Gaoussou Diarra (45') · Tsuyoshi Watanabe (79') · Tobias van den Elshout (79')
Como 1907
Robert Sánchez · Ivan Smolčić · Jacobo Ramón · Trevoh Chalobah · Álex Valle · Luis Milla · Máximo Perrone · Assane Diao · Martin Baturina · Bruno Kaiki · Nico Paz
Head coach: Cesc Fàbregas
Used substitutes
Jesús Rodríguez (23') · Lucas Da Cunha (60') · Tasos Douvikas (60') · Yan Couto (60') · Mattia Liberali (79')
What happened
Como made a lovely start at De Kuip. Assane Diao put them ahead in the 18th minute, but Feyenoord answered two minutes later through Gjivai Zechiël. Then came the first big blow: Diao went off in the 23rd minute with what looked like a muscle problem.
Cesc had started without a conventional striker. Douvikas stayed on the bench while Como reshuffled after Diao’s exit. Feyenoord took the lead through Anis Hadj Moussa in the 52nd minute, and the game grew harder to get back into. Douvikas arrived at 60; his first proper chance was a header from Álex Valle’s cross four minutes later. He eventually pulled one back in stoppage time, but Robert Sánchez’s own goal had already made it 3–1. Feyenoord won 3–2.
It was Como’s first European away match. The club lists 1,042 supporters in the away sector. They saw a brave start and a finish that at least made the last seconds uncomfortable for the home side.
The Como view
Starting without a fixed No. 9 was not foolish. Diao’s goal showed the value of pace into space, and Como were ahead. But once he went off, the attack lost its quickest runner. Jesús Rodríguez came on, while Douvikas remained an option on the bench; for the next half-hour, Como had no natural center-forward to occupy Feyenoord’s center-backs.
When Douvikas finally entered, the difference was visible straight away: a cross, a header, a chance. Later, a long ball let him run at goal and finish for 3–2. That does not prove he would have changed the result if he had started. It does show that when Como needed a target and a threat in behind, he gave them something the earlier shape did not.
Feyenoord deserve credit too. They got stronger after the equalizer, attacked from the wings, and had Como defending their own box for long stretches. The own goal was cruel, but the home side had made the match uncomfortable well before it. Still, after Diao’s injury, waiting until the hour for a striker is a fair decision to question.
Bottom line
Douvikas gave Como a late chance to steal something, and nearly no time to do it. The useful question for Florence is not “should he always start?” It is whether Como can keep the fluid front four and still get a proper No. 9 into the game sooner when the match asks for one. Would you have brought him on at half-time after Diao went off, or kept faith with the movement around Paz and Baturina?