Aston Villa travel to the Netherlands for the next instalment of the club’s Europa Conference League campaign on Thursday night.
With every team in Group E level on three points after two matches, it’s an important game for both Villa and opponents AZ Alkmaar.
Ahead of the game, get to know more about the history, players, head coach and stadium of AZ Alkmaar…
History
AZ Alkmaar are in their 26th consecutive season in the Dutch top flight, the Eredivisie.
The club were formed in 1967 after the merger of Alkmaar ’57 and FC Zaanstreek, putting themselves on the map in the 70s under the ownership of Molenaar brothers Cees and Klaas.
A first major trophy arrived when the KNVB Cup was won in 1978 before AZ lifted their first Eredivisie title in 1981.
In the same season in 1981, they lost out to Ipswich Town 5-4 on aggregate in the UEFA Cup final – the closest they have come to European success.
Seven years later, the club found themselves relegated to the second tier, where they stayed until promotion back to the Eredivisie in 1996.
After finishing as runners-up in the league in 2007, AZ were back at the top of Dutch football in 2009 when Louis van Gaal guided them to their second and last Eredivisie title.
Players
AZ have a trio of players familiar to Premier League fans: former Brighton goalkeeper Mat Ryan, ex Stoke City defender Bruno Martins Indi and Jordy Clasie, who spent four years at Southampton.
Ryan has been ever-present between the sticks this season, keeping eight clean sheets in 15 matches.
Alkmaar are second in the Eredivisie, having gone unbeaten in nine matches, and a defence featuring right-back Yukinari Sugawara, left-back David Wolfe, and centre-backs Riechedly Bazoer and Alexandre Penetra have been a big factor behind their strong start.
Captain Clasie and Sven Mijnans form a strong central midfield partnership, with playmaker Dani de Wit playing just ahead of them.
Myron van Brederode and Mayckel Lahdo have been the preferred wingers to provide service for top scorer Vangelis Pavlidis, who has scored 13 goals in nine league games – finding the net in every match.
Head coach
London-born Pascal Jansen has been in charge at AZ since December 2020, when he stepped up from his role as a coach following the departure of Arne Slot.
Having initially taken his first managerial job on a contract until the end of the season, Jansen’s results en route to a third-place finish won him a new contract.
The 50-year-old has since delivered finishes of fifth in 2021/22 and fourth in 2022/23, while also taking the club to the semi-finals of the Europa Conference League last term.
Jansen has utilised a 4-3-3 formation so far this season, losing only one of 15 matches – a 4-3 defeat to HŠK Zrinjski in their opening game of Group E.
Stadium
AFAS Stadium is the home of AZ Alkmaar, located 40-minutes north of Amsterdam.
Built in 2006, the ground holds 19,000 supporters and is an all-seater stadium.
The Villa fans travelling to the game will be seated in sections K and L in the Alkmaarder Hout tribune stand.
