Feyenoord won with 2–1 against Standard Liège in their first home match in Group G of the Europa League. It was the first victory for Feyenoord in the Europa League group stage in eight years. Feyenoord also beat Rijeka (2–0) and defending champions Sevilla (2–0), results sufficient for Feyenoord's progress to the knockout round for the first time in ten years. In the knockout round, Feyenoord lost to Roma 3–2 on aggregate. After this loss, Feyenoord did not recover. Despite nearly securing a spot in next season's Europa League qualification rounds, they failed to win any of their last five matches, ending the year in the fourth spot, behind AZ. In the play-offs to earn a spot for Europa League, they were eliminated by Heerenveen. After manager Fred Rutten opted not to extend his contract, on 23 March 2015 Feyenoord announced former Dutch international and Feyenoord player Giovanni van Bronckhorst would become its new manager. That summer the club contracted several new key players, Eric Botteghin from FC Groningen, Jan-Arie van der Heijden from Vitesse, and Eljero Elia from SV Werder Bremen. It also welcomed back club legend Dirk Kuyt from Fenerbahçe on a one-year contract.