Italian press hails Teun Koopmeiners after winning brotherly battle with Peer

Teun Koopmeiners emerged with the bragging rights in a Europa League meeting dominated by his family story, scoring as Juventus defeated AZ 2-1 in Alkmaar. The match put the 28-year-old midfielder opposite his 26-year-old brother Peer for the first time, with Teun opening the scoring after 19 minutes.

AZ supporters marked the occasion with a banner reading “Two brothers, one love”, but the Italian press highlighted the elder Koopmeiners’ decisive contribution. La Gazzetta dello Sport noted that the result denied the draw their grandfather Jan had hoped to see and portrayed Teun as imposing the authority of the older brother.

Corriere dello Sport awarded Teun a seven and described the goal as a sign of renewed promise. The newspaper also noted that he kept his promise not to celebrate and identified the strike as his first European goal for Juventus. The brothers had both developed at AZ before their careers took them along different paths.

Tuttosport was even more enthusiastic, giving Teun a 7.5 and presenting his return to Alkmaar as a storybook occasion. It argued that his recent contributions have developed into evidence that he is becoming an important figure for Juventus. Peer received a five from the same outlet, which judged the AZ captain to have been a step behind his brother on the night.