Juventus lean on makeshift back three as Koopmeiners brothers meet in Alkmaar
Luciano Spalletti sends out Randal Kolo Muani, Nick Woltemade and Kerim Alajbegovic together again as Juventus visit AZ Alkmaar for a Europa League tie reuniting Teun and his brother at the AFAS Stadium.
Juventus travelled to the AFAS Stadium on Thursday with an attack picked more by necessity than design, naming Randal Kolo Muani, Nick Woltemade and Kerim Alajbegovic together once again as Luciano Spalletti's three forward options against AZ Alkmaar, according to Football Italia.
The teamsheet also produced a family subplot: Teun Koopmeiners started for Juventus in central midfield, lining up against his brother Peer Koopmeiners, who started for AZ in the double pivot. Both came through the AZ academy before Teun left for Atalanta in 2021, Football Italia reported.
Spalletti's hand is forced in defence and attack
The headline name on the team sheet is less about selection than subtraction. Kenan Yildiz, Nico Gonzalez, Francisco Conceicao, Khephren Thuram, Manuel Locatelli, Zeki Celik and Kamil Grabara were all unavailable, with Weston McKennie the latest addition to that list, Football Italia reported.
That volume of absentees explains why Spalletti set Juventus up with a back three of Gatti, Lucumi and Kelly rather than a flat back four, and why Cambiaso and Kalulu were pushed into wing-back roles either side of Sarr and Koopmeiners in a 3-4-1-2 shape. With so many attacking and midfield options missing, the structure behind the ball needed extra bodies to compensate, while Alajbegovic was tasked with linking play between the midfield four and the strike partnership of Woltemade and Kolo Muani.
That front pairing, with Alajbegovic just behind, has become Spalletti's default attacking solution in Europe regardless of personnel elsewhere. Keeping the same trio intact across continental fixtures suggests it is now less an improvisation forced by injuries than a settled unit he trusts to combine in the final third, even as the players around them have had to change week to week.
AZ's double pivot sets the terms of the midfield battle
AZ lined up in a 4-2-3-1, with Kasius, Goes, Schouten and M. de Wit forming the back four and Peer Koopmeiners paired with Kwakman as the double pivot screening in front of them. Stengs, Byskov and Daal operated across the attacking midfield line behind lone striker Meerdink.
That double pivot is the structural counterweight to Juventus's extra central body in Teun Koopmeiners and Sarr. Whichever side wins control of that zone dictates whether Juventus's wing-backs can get forward freely or whether AZ's front three can spring quick transitions through the middle before Juventus's back three resets.
AZ were missing Jeroen Zoet, Jizz Hornkamp, Wouter Goes and Stije Resik for the tie, though Kees Smit returned to the squad for the first time since September, Football Italia reported.
Form lines point in opposite directions
Juventus arrived unbeaten through three Europa League matches, having beaten NEC 5-0, won 2-1 away at Celta Vigo and drawn 2-2 with Rennes, and came into the fixture off a 2-0 league win over Napoli. Domestically, though, their season has been uneven: five wins, two draws and three defeats have left them seventh in Serie A after ten rounds, a record that sits awkwardly alongside their European consistency.
AZ sat a point further back in the group after three rounds, with wins over Hapoel Beer-Sheva and Ararat-Armenia offset by a defeat to Sunderland, Football Italia reported. Domestically they arrived in poor form, having lost consecutive Eredivisie matches to Twente and Ajax, making Thursday's tie as much about momentum as continental points for the home side.
That contrast matters tactically as well as emotionally. A team chasing form after back-to-back league defeats tends to press higher and commit more numbers forward in search of an early goal, which can open the half-spaces that Juventus's front two are built to exploit on the counter. Juventus, by contrast, could afford patience, knowing their own continental form has been the more reliable half of their season.
The result will shape both sides' positioning in a section where Juventus had claimed six points from three games and AZ five, with the fixture offering a chance for either to pull clear going into the next round of league-phase matches.