Published November 5, 2026 · Taken Social Editorial
ALKMAAR, Netherlands — Juventus built a two-goal first-half lead and survived a late AZ response to win 2–1 in the Europa League on Thursday, maintaining its unbeaten start to the league phase.
Teun Koopmeiners opened the scoring in the 19th minute and Randal Kolo Muani added the second in the 37th. Mexx Meerdink pulled a goal back for AZ in the 88th minute, but the Dutch side could not find the equalizer before the end of stoppage time.
The completed match record confirms the 2–1 final score and the goals that shaped it. Kolo Muani supplied the assist for Koopmeiners before scoring himself, while Nick Woltemade assisted the second Juventus goal.
The outcome gives Juventus ten points from four European matches: three victories and a draw. AZ remains on six points after entering the evening with two wins and one defeat. The late goal changed the final margin, but it did not change which side collected the points.
First-half finishing gives Juventus its cushion
Koopmeiners’s breakthrough supplied Juventus with an early advantage in a sold-out setting. AZ had announced before kickoff that all available tickets were gone, underlining the interest in a meeting with one of European football’s most recognizable clubs.
The lead became substantially more useful when Kolo Muani made it 2–0 before halftime. His involvement in both goals gave Juventus a productive first period and left AZ needing a response against an opponent that had already demonstrated its attacking threat.
Meerdink’s reply arrived close to the end of normal time. Its timing meant AZ still had a chance to rescue a point, while Juventus had to protect a narrower advantage through the final minutes. The visitors did so, securing a result that earlier live scores showing 0–2 did not fully describe.
That distinction matters to the story of the match. Juventus earned an away victory, but it did not complete a clean sheet. AZ suffered a home defeat, but it did finish with a goal and a late opportunity to make the closing phase more uncomfortable.
A notable result against AZ’s European home record
Juventus’s pre-match statistical briefing recorded that AZ had been unbeaten in 17 consecutive European home matches, with 14 wins and three draws, since losing to Aston Villa in October 2023. Thursday’s result ended that sequence.
The same briefing described this as the clubs’ first meeting in European competition. Juventus arrived with nine goals in its first three league-phase fixtures, with Kolo Muani, Woltemade and Zeki Çelik each having scored at least twice. The two first-half goals in Alkmaar extended a productive European attacking start.
For coach Luciano Spalletti, the competition has continued to provide points even as every new match presents a different test. The trip to AZ required Juventus to translate its earlier results into a successful away performance against a side with a strong record on its own ground.
Four matches remain in the eight-game Europa League phase. Ten points place Juventus in a more favorable position than it occupied before kickoff, but the eventual ranking still depends on its remaining results and those elsewhere in the UEFA table. A promising position is not the same as a mathematically settled route.
AZ’s task is to recover after a night that reduced the value of its earlier home consistency. Juventus’s task is to build on another victory without overlooking the late concession. Koopmeiners and Kolo Muani supplied enough of a lead; Meerdink ensured the visitors had to preserve it to the end.
Header photograph: The AFAS Stadion in Alkmaar in October 2022. Archival venue photograph; not the November 2026 match. Flodder666, via Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 4.0.
