Teun Koopmeiners scores as Juventus condemn AZ to Europa League defeat

AZ suffered a 2-1 home defeat to Juventus in the Europa League as Teun Koopmeiners scored against the club captained by his younger brother, Peer. The Netherlands midfielder opened the scoring after 18 minutes and 44 seconds but did not celebrate against his former side.

Juventus had already threatened through Randal Kolo Muani before he supplied Teun Koopmeiners on the edge of the penalty area for the breakthrough. AZ struggled to create clear openings, although Valdemar Byskov hit the wall from a free-kick and Mexx Meerdink passed up a promising shooting opportunity.

Kolo Muani doubled the visitors’ advantage before half-time, combining with Nick Woltemade and driving through the AZ defence before finishing powerfully. Leeroy Echteld responded after the interval by introducing the returning Kees Smit alongside Jordy Clasie and Elijah Dijkstra. Smit went close to reducing the deficit but fired narrowly over from a good position.

Meerdink finally gave AZ hope with an 88th-minute goal, making it 2-1. Mees de Wit then appeared to have snatched an equaliser in stoppage time, only for his effort to be correctly ruled out for offside. The defeat left AZ in the middle of the Europa League standings, with four league-phase fixtures still to play.