Juventus won 2-1 at AZ Alkmaar on a night when Teun Koopmeiners faced his old club, although the home side were favored on the expected goal count. The result strengthens their position in the league stage ahead of the visit of Fiorentina in Serie A on Sunday.
The trip to Alkmaar brought Teun Koopmeiners back to his former club. His brother Peer was in the AZ side that Juventus suspended. UEFA has chosen a family meeting in the 4th round.
Koopmeiners opened the scoring in the 19th minute with Kolo Muani’s pass. Kolo Muani doubled the lead in the 37th minute, Nick Woltemade assisted and Juventus took a 2-0 lead into the break. Kolo Muani got a rating of 8.61 and Koopmeiners 8.2 from the data provider.
AZ pulled one back in the 88th minute. Mexx Meerdink scored from Elijah Dijkstra’s pass. The home team could not find the equalizer in the remaining minutes.
Although AZ controlled the ball, “Juventus” maintained its advantage
The home team had 56% possession. They completed 523 passes to “Juventus’s 378”. 11 attempts of AZ and three attempts of “Juventus” were met.
Both teams had three shots on target. Vicario made two saves for Juventus. AZ’s expected goals give total points to the chances the hosts create without converting.
The numbers are in line with a Juventus side that held the upper hand in the first half. Spalletti’s team committed 20 fouls to AZ’s 13 games. Andrea Cambiaso, Jeff Ekhator and Juan Cabal received yellow cards for “Juventus”. Wesley Hoedt was the only AZ player to see a yellow card. The chief referee of the match was Damian Sylwestrzak.
The second win in a row lifted Spalletti’s team to fifth place
The win was Spalletti’s second in a row in all competitions, following a league victory over Napoli. It came after 0-2 defeats to Genoa and 0-3 defeats to Lazio. Sky Sport Italia noted that Koopmeiners now has four goals for Juventus in all competitions in 2026, one more than the three he scored for the club in 2025.
The result for AZ was the third defeat in a row in all competitions. Defeats to Ajax and Twente came before Thursday’s game.
There are 36 clubs in this season’s league stage, each playing eight different opponents. It ends on Thursday, January 28, 2027. On November 26, 21:00 CET, Juventus host Omonia Nicosia, while AZ travel to Sparta Praha. Juventus then host Hapoel Beer-Sheva on December 10 and Ferencvaros on January 21, 2027, both at 18:45 CET. They will finish at home to Real Sociedad on 28 January 2027 at 21:00 CET.
Series A is first. On November 8, the start of the 11th round will be held at 20:45, “Juventus” will visit “Fiorentina”. On the same day, AZ hosted “Groningen” in the Eredivisie.