AZ will almost certainly not be able to call on goalkeeper Mathew Ryan against Legia Warsaw next Thursday. The Australian suffered a broken cheekbone during recovery training in the gym. It is not known exactly how that happened. According to AZ, the goalkeeper underwent surgery and will be out for several weeks.
On Saturday evening, Ryan still defended the goal in the 4-1 home match against Almere City FC. As a replacement for, trainer Pascal Jansen must choose between Hobie Verhulst and Rome-Jayden Owusu-Oduro in Poland. Verhulst had to give up his place as first goalkeeper after Ryan’s arrival. Owusu-Oduro is the goalkeeper of Jong AZ and has not played in AZ 1 before.
AZ must win the match against Legia Warsaw to continue their European conversion. In the event of a draw or defeat, the Alkmaarders do not finish among the first two in the group and the Conference League is over.
Until the winter break, AZ will also play the top match in the Premier League against PSV and in the KNVB cup tournament against the amateurs of HHC Hardenberg.