If Ange Postecoglou was hoping that things might be different for Tottenham in the Europa League then he was sadly mistaken. An abject display in which his side fell behind to an early own goal from the unfortunate Lucas Bergvall and then failed to lay a glove on AZ Alkmaar means the Australian’s chances of maintaining the record of winning a trophy in his second season at every club he has managed now rest on next week’s second leg.
The home side – who are known as the cheese farmers – could have been out of sight after repeatedly finding holes in the Spurs defence had it not been for two excellent saves from Guglielmo Vicario, including one to deny the Tottenham academy graduate Troy Parrott in the first half. Even though Spurs have not reached the quarter-finals of this competition in five attempts since 2013, Postecoglou said beforehand that his squad sensed an opportunity to win it now that some of his players are back from injury. But the sight of Tottenham’s record signing, Dominic Solanke, limping off late with a suspected back problem on his return from seven weeks out with a knee injury made it an even more disastrous evening for the head coach.
Postecoglou had seemed encouraged by the prospect of welcoming back Solanke and the defenders Cristian Romero and Micky van de Ven after their spells on the sidelines. But he and the 950 away fans who made the trip will have had their enthusiasm diminished having seen Mathys Tel once again fail to make an impression up front and be removed at half-time as Spurs struggled badly.
Liverpool’s Arne Slot cut his teeth as manager of AZ before moving on to Feyenoord – following in the footsteps of Louis van Gaal and Dick Advocaat. The club up the road from Amsterdam have a decent pedigree in this competition, having reached the semi-finals in 2023 and the final of its predecessor, the Uefa Cup, in 1981. Maarten Martens’ side was packed with players who helped them to win Uefa’s Youth League that year, although they were missing playmaker Sven Mijnans and Ruben van Bommel – son of the former Netherlands captain Mark.
AZ’s current youth team dumped Real Madrid out of the same competition on Wednesday and the senior side have a formidable record in their compact home ground, having beaten Galatasaray 4-1 in Alkmaar in the previous round. Roared on by a boisterous crowd, Ernest Poku helped set the tone as he immediately caused Djed Spence problems down the left flank. The breakthrough came from a corner when Parrott volleyed the ball back in the general direction of the goal and it took a wicked slice as Bergvall attempted to clear before looping over the helpless Vicario. The stadium announcer initially gave the goal to Parrott, who looked like a man on a mission against his former club.
Tottenham’s Lucas Bergvall is consoled by Guglielmo Vicario after his own goal give AZ Alkmaar the lead. Photograph: Soccrates Images/Getty Images
Tottenham struggled to get to grips with a bumpy surface and looked vulnerable whenever they lost the ball to a midfield being patrolled by veteran Jordie Clasie, once of Southampton. Son Heung-min was guilty of not tracking Denso Kasius when he played in Parrott for a golden opportunity to double AZ’s lead but the Republic of Ireland striker could not find a way past Vicario. Despite dominating possession, Spurs finally had an effort worthy of note when Brennan Johnson fired over from distance five minutes before half-time. They somehow survived a goalmouth scramble from another corner when Parrot and Poku had been allowed acres of space in the buildup. Something clearly needed to change.
Postecoglou decided to bring on Wilson Odobert for Tel and move Son into the centre, with Bergvall coming close to making amends after a driving run that ended with him curling a shot just wide of the post. AZ continued to look dangerous and it needed a full stretch save from Vicario to keep out Poku’s drive after a clever flick from Parrott. Rodrigo Bentancur did not help Postecoglou’s mood when he was booked for a late challenge that will rule him out of next week’s second leg.
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Solanke, Pedro Porro and Pape Sarr were summoned from the bench, with the disappointing James Maddison one of those to make way. It did not seem to make much of a difference as Tottenham continued to look ineffective. Parrott was given a standing ovation when he was taken off with 10 minutes to go and AZ’s only regret will be that they could not find a second goal their superiority deserved.
For Postecoglou, the pressure is only mounting and he will need to find some answers if Spurs are not going to finish yet another season empty-handed.
