Feyenoord have ten points from their six Champions League matches. Two wins from their final two fixtures could see them sneak into the top eight. But two defeats could see them fail to make it into the top 24.
The Dutch team has failed to match the standards met under the departed Arne Slot and is having a mixed season in the Eredivisie.
Last season’s runners-up currently sit 4th in the table with 36 points. They are ten behind leaders PSV after 19 matchweeks.
Furthermore, Feyenoord are three without a win in the league and in danger of dropping out of the European qualifying places.
The stuttering league form has left head coach Brian Priske under pressure.
It was never going to be easy replacing Arne Slott. But even allowing for a slight downturn in fortunes after Slot left for Liverpool, the consensus is that things aren’t quite going to plan for Priske.
A win over Bayern Munich would be the ideal tonic. But given their recent domestic form, something drastic needs to change for that to happen.
On a positive note for Brian Priske, his team hasn’t been afraid to mix it in Europe this season.
Wins have come against Girona (3-2), Benfica (3-1) and Sparta Prague (4-2). Defeats have come against Leverkusen (4-0) and RB Salzburg (3-1). And who can forget that spectacular 3-3 draw with Manchester City at the Etihad?
Munich are on 12 points in the Champions League group table. They sit just outside the top eight and know two wins should be enough to finish in the top eight and avoid the two-legged Round of 16 playoffs.
Following on from a visit to the Netherlands, Bayern will host Slovan Bratislava, so head coach Vincent Kompany will know that his team still has a great chance of progressing straight to the knockout stages and avoiding a fixture pile-up.
Bayern started their Champions League campaign with a spectacular 9-2 win over Dinamo Zagreb on Matchday 1.
A 1-0 defeat away at Aston Villa followed, and then Munich were thrashed 4-1 by Barcelona in their next outing.
Since the back-to-back defeats, Bayern regrouped to beat both Benfica and PSG by 1-0 score lines. On Matchday 6 they looked more like their old selves when they thrashed Shakhtar Donetsk 5-1.
Domestically, the Bavarians have seen their lead at the top of the Bundesliga cut to just four points in recent weeks. A 2-1 defeat away to Mainz on Matchday 14 allowed Champions Leverkusen to close the gap.
Kompany’s team has responded with four consecutive victories in the league. But Alonso’s Leverkusen have matched them point-for-point, and are not going anywhere.
The pressure being applied domestically by Leverkusen makes the Feyenoord clash huge for Kompany.
