UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE - 2015/16 SEASON MATCH PRESS KITS AZ Stadion - Alkmaar Thursday 1 October 2015 19.00CET (19.00 local time) AZ Alkmaar Group L - Matchday 2 Athletic Club Last updated 01/10/2015 15:23CET Previous meetings 2 Match background 4 Team facts 5 Squad list 7 Fixtures and results 11 Match-by-match lineups 15 Match officials 17 Legend 18 1 AZ Alkmaar - Athletic Club Thursday 1 October 2015 - 19.00CET (19.00 local time) Match press kit AZ Stadion, Alkmaar Previous meetings Head to Head No UEFA competition matches have been played between these two teams AZ Alkmaar - Record versus clubs from opponents' country UEFA Europa League Date Stage Match Result Venue Goalscorers Rami 15, 17, Jordi 4-0 05/04/2012 QF Valencia CF - AZ Alkmaar Valencia Alba 56, Pablo agg: 5-2 Hernández 80 Holman 45+1, 29/03/2012 QF AZ Alkmaar - Valencia CF 2-1 Alkmaar Martens 79; Mehmet Topal 51 UEFA Cup Date Stage Match Result Venue Goalscorers Chevantón 52 (P); S. 14/12/2006 GS Sevilla FC - AZ Alkmaar 1-2 Seville Arveladze 63, 90+3 UEFA Cup Date Stage Match Result Venue Goalscorers S. Arveladze 26, AZ Alkmaar - Real Betis 2-1 23/02/2006 R3 Alkmaar Jaliens 35; Melli 94 Balompié agg 2-3 (aet) ET Real Betis Balompié - AZ 15/02/2006 R3 2-0 Seville Diego 70, Robert 79 Alkmaar UEFA Cup Date Stage Match Result Venue Goalscorers 1-1 14/04/2005 QF AZ Alkmaar - Villarreal CF Alkmaar Perez 8; Figueroa 72 agg: 3-2 Riquelme 13; 07/04/2005 QF Villarreal CF - AZ Alkmaar 1-2 Villarreal Landzaat 11, Nelisse 74 UEFA Cup Date Stage Match Result Venue Goalscorers 1-1 Rexach 32 (P); Kist 02/11/1977 R2 FC Barcelona - AZ Alkmaar agg: 2-2 (aet, 5- Barcelona 69 4pens) Nygaard 41; 19/10/1977 R2 AZ Alkmaar - FC Barcelona 1-1 Alkmaar Neeskens 46 Athletic Club - Record versus clubs from opponents' country UEFA Cup Date Stage Match Result Venue Goalscorers 3-0 Clarke 38 (P), 55, 27/09/1978 R1 AFC Ajax - Athletic Club Amsterdam agg: 3-2 Lerby 89 2 AZ Alkmaar - Athletic Club Thursday 1 October 2015 - 19.00CET (19.00 local time) Match press kit AZ Stadion, Alkmaar UEFA Cup 13/09/1978 R1 Athletic Club - AFC Ajax 2-0 Bilbao Churruca 9, Vidal 58 Home Away Final Total Pld W D L Pld W D L Pld W D L Pld W D L GF GA AZ Alkmaar 4 2 2 0 5 2 1 2 0 0 0 0 9 4 3 2 11 13 Athletic Club 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 1 2 3 3 AZ Alkmaar - Athletic Club Thursday 1 October 2015 - 19.00CET (19.00 local time) Match press kit AZ Stadion, Alkmaar Match background AZ Alkmaar have been oddly consistent in UEFA Europa League games this season, with Athletic Club coming to the Netherlands in search of a rare away victory in Group L. Previous meetings • The teams are meeting for the first time in UEFA competition. • AZ's nine games against Spanish sides have ended W4 D3 L2 (W2 D2 L0 at home – W2 D1 L2 in Spain). They have won their last two home matches against Spanish opposition 2-1, having drawn the first two 1-1. • Athletic's only previous encounter with Dutch rivals was a 3-2 aggregate defeat by AFC Ajax in the 1978/79 UEFA Cup first round. Form guide • AZ have been consistent this season in Europe in one respect, scoring twice in each of their five fixtures: three wins (2-0, 2-1, 2-0) and two losses (3-2, 3-2). Both the home games ended 2-0. • Athletic have won just one of their last seven European away matches: W1 D3 L3. • Losing finalists in 2012, Athletic made it through to the round of 32 in their first two UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League group stage campaigns, but fell short in their most recent one, 2012/13. • In seven previous campaigns in the UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League group stage, AZ have advanced to the knockout stage five times, most recently in 2013/14 when they got as far as the last eight. Trivia and links • The journey from Bilbao to Alkmaar is about 1,200km. The coaches • AZ boss since 2014, John van den Brom spent the majority of his playing days as a midfielder at Vitesse. Capped twice, he went on to coach Ajax's youth team, ADO Den Haag and Vitesse before heading to RSC Anderlecht and lifting the Belgian title in 2012/13. • Ernesto Valverde took charge of Athletic for a second time in 2013. As a player, he had enjoyed the most stable period of his career in Bilbao, and he promptly returned to the club after retiring, including as head coach from 2003– 05. Subsequently, he landed three Greek titles with Olympiacos FC and coached both Villarreal CF and Valencia FC. 4 AZ Alkmaar - Athletic Club Thursday 1 October 2015 - 19.00CET (19.00 local time) Match press kit AZ Stadion, Alkmaar Team facts AZ Alkmaar Formed: 1967 Nickname: Kaaskoppen (Cheeseheads) UEFA club competition honours (runners-up in brackets) • UEFA Cup: (1981) Domestic honours (most recent triumph in brackets) League title: 2 (2009) Dutch Cup: 4 (2013) Ten-year European record (UEFA Europa League/UEFA Cup unless indicated otherwise) 2014/15: did not take part in UEFA club competition 2013/14: quarter-finals 2012/13: play-offs 2011/12: quarter-finals 2010/11: group stage 2009/10: UEFA Champions League group stage 2008/09: did not take part in UEFA club competition 2007/08: group stage 2006/07: quarter-finals 2005/06: round of 32 Records UEFA club competition • Biggest home win 11-1: AZ v FC Differdange 03 14/09/77, UEFA Cup first round first leg • Biggest away win 0-5: FC Differdange 03 v AZ 27/09/77, UEFA Cup first round second leg • Heaviest home defeat 0-5: AZ v FC Anji Makhachkala 30/08/12, UEFA Europa League play-off second leg • Heaviest away defeat 4-0: Valencia CF v AZ 05/04/12, UEFA Europa League quarter-final second leg UEFA Europa League/UEFA Cup • Biggest home win 11-1: AZ v FC Differdange 03 (see above) • Biggest away win 0-5: FC Differdange 03 v AZ (see above) • Heaviest home defeat 0-5: AZ v FC Anji Makhachkala (see above) • Heaviest away defeat 4-0: Valencia CF v AZ (see above) Athletic Club Formed: 1898 Nickname: Los Leones (The Lions) UEFA club competition honours (runners-up in brackets) • UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League: (1977), (2012) Domestic honours (most recent triumph in brackets) League title: 8 (1984) Spanish Cup: 23 (1984) Ten-year European record (UEFA Europa League/UEFA Cup unless indicated otherwise) 5 AZ Alkmaar - Athletic Club Thursday 1 October 2015 - 19.00CET (19.00 local time) Match press kit AZ Stadion, Alkmaar 2014/15: round of 32 (having transferred from UEFA Champions League group stage) 2013/14: did not take part in UEFA club competition 2012/13: group stage 2011/12: runners-up 2010/11: did not take part in UEFA club competition 2009/10: round of 32 2008/09: did not take part in UEFA club competition 2007/08: did not take part in UEFA club competition 2006/07: did not take part in UEFA club competition 2005/06: UEFA Intertoto Cup second round Records UEFA club competition • Biggest home win 6-0: Athletic v HJK Helsinki 23/08/12, UEFA Europa League play-off first leg • Biggest away win 1-7: R. Standard de Liège v Athletic 16/12/04, UEFA Cup group stage • Heaviest home defeat 0-3: Athletic v SV Werder Bremen 16/12/09, UEFA Europa League group stage • Heaviest away defeat 5-1: Juventus v Athletic 26/10/88, UEFA Cup second round first leg 4-0: RSC Anderlecht v Athletic 25/02/10, UEFA Europa League round of 32 second leg UEFA Europa League/UEFA Cup • Biggest home win 6-0: Athletic v HJK Helsinki (see above) • Biggest away win 1-7: R. Standard de Liège v Athletic (see above) • Heaviest home defeat 0-3: Athletic v SV Werder Bremen (see above) • Heaviest away defeat 5-1: Juventus v Athletic (see above) 4-0: RSC Anderlecht v Athletic (see above) 6 AZ Alkmaar - Athletic Club Thursday 1 October 2015 - 19.00CET (19.00 local time) Match press kit AZ Stadion, Alkmaar Squad list AZ Alkmaar Current season All-time QUAL UEL League UEL UEFA No. Player Nat. DoB Age D Pld Gls Pld Gls Pld Gls Pld Gls Pld Gls Goalkeepers 1 Sergio Rochet URU 23/03/1993 22 - 4 - 1 - 6 - 1 - 5 - 16 Gino Coutinho NED 05/08/1982 33 - - - - - 1 - 1 - 5 - 25 Nick Olij NED 01/08/1995 20 - - - - - - - - - - - 31 Koen Bucker NED 18/06/1996 19 - - - - - - - - - - - Defenders 2 Mattias Johansson SWE 16/02/1992 23 - 4 - 1 - 5 - 14 - 36 3 3 Jeffrey Gouweleeuw NED 10/07/1991 24 - 4 - 1 - 7 1 11 1 21 1 4 Jan Wuytens BEL 09/06/1985 30 - 1 - - - - - 16 - 24 - 5 Rajko Brežančić SRB 21/08/1989 26 - - - 1 - 3 1 2 - 11 - 14 Jop van der Linden NED 17/07/1990 25 - 4 2 1 1 7 - 1 1 5 3 23 Derrick Luckassen NED 03/07/1995 20 - 2 - - - 3 - - - 2 - 24 Ridgeciano Haps NED 12/06/1993 22 - 4 - - - 6 - 1 - 5 - 32 Levi Opdam NED 03/05/1996 19 - - - - - - - - - - - 33 Pantelis Hatzidiakos NED 18/01/1997 18 - - - - - - - - - - - 34 Joris Kramer NED 02/08/1996 19 - - - - - - - - - - - 35 Guus Van Weerdenburg NED 17/07/1995 20 - - - - - - - - - - - 42 Jelle Hopman NED 30/01/1996 19 - - - - - - - - - - - Midfielders 6 Celso Ortiz PAR 26/01/1989 26 - 3 - - - 2 - 17 1 25 1 8 Joris van Overeem NED 01/06/1994 21 - 3 1 1 - 7 - 2 - 5 1 10 Markus Henriksen NOR 25/07/1992 23 - 4 2 1 1 7 4 10 2 35 9 17 Ben Rienstra NED 05/06/1990 25 - - - 1 - 4 - 1 - 3 - 19 Dabney Souza NED 21/07/1996 19 - 3 - 1 - 6 - 1 - 4 - 20 Thom Haye NED 09/02/1995 20 - 4 - 1 - 6 - 2 - 6 - 26 Stijn Spierings NED 12/03/1996 19 - - - - - - - - - - - 36 Alexander Sigurdarson ISL 08/04/1996 19 - - - - - - - - - - - 38 Thomas Ouwejan NED 30/09/1996 19 - - - - - - - - - - - 40 Jeremy Helmer NED 03/07/1997 18 - - - - - - - - - - - 43 Viktor Karl Einarsson ISL 30/01/1997 18 - - - - - - - - - - - Forwards 7 Guus Hupperts NED 25/04/1992 23 S 3 - 1 - 6 - 1 - 4 - 9 Alireza Jahanbakhsh IRN 11/08/1993 22 - - - - - 1 - - - - - 11 Muamer Tankovic SWE 22/02/1995 20 - 2 - 1 - 6 1 1 - 3 - 18 Vincent Janssen