Rotterdam has a special place in the hearts of Aston Villa supporters.
Villa won the European Cup at De Kuip in 1982 thanks to Peter Withe’s strike off his shin and the post and a stellar goalkeeping performance from young substitute Nigel Spink.
Bayern Munich were their opponents that night and they return on Thursday to take on Feyenoord in the Europa League.
‘In the box is where his qualities lie’
Feyenoord have a familiar face in the dugout. Former Premier League striker Robin van Persie took over at his hometown club earlier this year after winning plaudits as the head coach at Heerenveen, and he has certainly done his homework ahead of Villa’s visit in the second game of the league phase.
Van Persie, who scored 144 goals in the Premier League for Arsenal and Manchester United and played in three World Cups for the Netherlands, has been keeping a keen eye on Villa’s troubles in front of goal.
Unai Emery’s side didn’t score in the Premier League until their draw at Sunderland but started the Europa League campaign with a 1-0 home win over Serie A side Bologna.
Their first home league goal of 2025-26 was scored by Ollie Watkins, Villa’s record Premier League goalscorer and the player Van Persie has identified as a potential problem for Feyenoord on Thursday.
Speaking to BirminghamLive before Thursday’s fixture in Rotterdam, Van Persie was full of praise for Watkins and revealed that Feyenoord have been talking about how to deal with him at De Kuip.
“He is fast, technical, and in the box is where his qualities lie,” Van Persie told John Townley. “He will be a big threat against us. He is definitely one of their threats. We had a meeting about Aston Villa this morning. He was in it quite a bit.”
Watkins has been a remarkable success since joining Villa from Brentford in 2020.
His deft lob past Bernd Leno on Sunday was his 76th Premier League goal, extending the club record he took from Gabriel Agbonlahor with a similarly clever finish at Bournemouth at the end of last season.
The England international has been singled out for Feyenoord’s attention by one of the greatest-ever Premier League strikers.
Van Persie won the FA Cup as an Arsenal player in 2005 but had to wait until 2013 to win the league title with Man United, a success confirmed by a famous Van Persie hat-trick against Villa at Old Trafford.
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