Alkmaar football club AZ suffered a 3-0 defeat away to Ukrainian team Shakhtar Donetsk in the first leg of their Conference League quarter-final on Thursday night, leaving the last Dutch club in European competition this season with a mountain to climb before next week’s return leg.
AZ held the Ukrainians, who currently play their home matches in Kraków, for most of the game before a long-range strike by Pedrinho in the 72nd minute opened the scoring.
Two further goals from Alisson Santana followed in quick succession.
Captain Sven Mijnans told broadcaster Ziggo Sport that AZ “weren’t ourselves” and had sat too deep in the second half, allowing Shakhtar to eventually break through.
Coach Leeroy Echteld (57) also benched winger Ro-Zangelo Daal as a disciplinary measure after the player arrived late on match day.
Next season
With the tie all but lost, attention is shifting to AZ’s other routes into European football next season.
The Alkmaar club sit a disappointing sixth in the Eredivisie, which means their KNVB Cup final against NEC on 19 April has effectively become their shortest way back to the continental stage – the trophy comes with a direct ticket to the Europa League group phase.
The stakes are sharpened by the Netherlands’ recent loss of its sixth place on the Uefa coefficient ranking. From the 2027-28 season the Eredivisie will drop from six European places to five and retain just one automatic Champions League spot, making every remaining qualifying route more valuable.
AZ face Heerenveen at home in the Eredivisie on Sunday before hosting Shakhtar in the return leg at the AFAS Stadium in Alkmaar next Thursday. The cup final against NEC follows three days later in Rotterdam.
