Feyenoord facing fireworks fine after 3-0 loss to Internazionale

Feyenoord are facing a heavy fine from European football authorities after fireworks were let off during their Champions League defeat by Internazionale.

Referee Glenn Nyberg suspended the match for several minutes after flares were fired onto the roof from outside De Kuip stadium, damaging the structure. Police later made two arrests.

“It’s obviously not right and it’ll be another fine,” coach Giovanni van Bronckhorst said wearily after the game, which ended in a comprehensive 3-0 defeat for his team.

One flare landed on the pitch despite the club taking measures such as hanging nets from the gantries to stop objects being thrown from the stands. “They’re letting off fireworks from outside now,” Van Bronckhorst said. “What do you do about that?”

Uefa are likely to hit Feyenoord with a fine and could order the club to close parts of the stadium for their next home matches in the competition, against Porto on November 24 and RB Leipzig on January 27.

Suspended penalty

The club also have a suspended penalty hanging over them from last October, when they were fined €60,000 after fans let off fireworks during the match against Greek club Panathinaikos.

On the pitch, Feyenoord were undone by a classic display of Italian defending and counter-attacking, as Internazionale sat back after taking an eighth-minute lead through Yann Bisseck.

Francesco Pio Esposito headed in a second early in the second half, just as Feyenoord were pushing for an equaliser, before Piotr Zielinski made sure of the win with a shot from 20 metres.

Captain Luciano Valente said the result was “more than deserved” and the visitors had shown more “quality”.

“This defeat was harder to take than the one against Barcelona,” he told Ziggo Sport. “Because we thought going in that we could get something, but we just weren’t good enough.”

Van Bronckhorst said he was not surprised by the difference in class between the teams. “They scored the first goal out of nothing,” he said. “And Inter know better what the game needs at every stage.

“Their players have a lot of experience, they’ve been in the final twice in the last four years. So we’re at a disadvantage.”