An important day for AZ! The Alkmaarders will play against Anderlecht in the quarterfinals of the Conference League tonight at 9 p.m. Our reporters Erik-Jan Brinkman and Stephan Brandhorst are there! Our live blog keeps you fully up-to-date on all developments in Brussels.
From Brussels we close the live blog. Thanks for following everything around Anderlecht – AZ. Next week AZ can repair the damage in-house, but then it has to work hard. NH Sport will be present again to keep you informed!
The 1,100 AZ fans who traveled along descend in Brussels. Because of the mandatory bus combination, everyone goes home immediately. So the fans can’t go into town. The first buses are not expected to return to Alkmaar until well into the night.
It’s finished! AZ loses 2-0 to Anderlecht in the quarterfinals of the Conference League. The Alkmaarders have not been in the game for a moment and have to work in Alkmaar next week. Comments from the competition will follow shortly.
Ashimeru shoots Anderlecht’s second goal against the ropes… AZ trailing 2-0 in Brussels.
The Alkmaarders start the second half unchanged against Anderlecht, which leads 1-0,
AZ behind after a good header from Murillo. The team of trainer Pascal Jansen does not get around to its own game at all and disappoints in Brussels. It should be glad that Anderlecht did not push through completely. The score is still 1-0 for Anderlecht.
AZ has kicked off the game in the quarterfinals of the Conference League.
The last time AZ played an away match against Anderlecht was in 2012. In the round of 16 of the Europa League, the team of former coach Gertjan Verbeek won 1-0 thanks to Maarten Martens’ goal. The Belgian, who broke through atPurple-whitehit from an impossible left corner.
The buses with AZ supporters have been delayed considerably. Some supporters say that it will be exciting whether they will be in Brussels on time. The kick-off is at 9 p.m. and according to the route planner, they will arrive just before the start signal.
Last weekend, Vangelis Pavlidis started on the bench against Sparta Rotterdam (0-1 loss). The striker only participated for half an hour. Jesper Karlsson was not at all present, but is in the match selection against Anderlecht. “Health always comes first. The past few days have gone well,” said trainer Pascal Jansen at the press conference. “Everything looks good. They are both with us, but both have been hurt a bit. They can both play and it will show how long they can play.”
The Belgian record champion is in 9th place in the league. The team of trainer Brian Riemer achieved 46 points in 32 games. Stayed last weekendPurple-whitesticking to a 0-0 draw against Westerlo. In the Conference League, it settled in the previous round over two games with Villarreal (1-1 and 0-1).
Last 5 league matches:
Anderlecht – Westerlo | 0-0
KAS Eupen – Anderlecht | 0-1
Oud-Heverlee Leuven – Anderlecht | 0-2
Anderlecht – Club Brugge | 2-0
KAA Ghent – Anderlecht | 1-0
Much indignation among AZ supporters. They must travel to Brussels with a bus combination for the match against Anderlecht. Eleven buses with more than 1,000 fans leave around 3 p.m. The traveling supporters are only welcome in the stadium and cannot enter the city before and after the match.
AZ only took one point in the last three league games. The matches against FC Twente (2-1) and Sparta Rotterdam (0-1) were lost. In between, the team of coach Pascal Jansen played a draw against sc Heerenveen (1-1).
Last 5 league matches:
AZ – Sparta Rotterdam | 0-1
AZ – sc Heerenveen | 1-1
FC Twente – AZ | 2-1
AZ – FC Groningen | 1-0
Vitesse – AZ | 0-1