Maccabi Tel-Aviv v AZ background
Monday, October 24, 2016
Article summary
Shota Arveladze will look for a second win against his old club as the Georgian prepares his Maccabi Tel-Aviv team for a home encounter with AZ Alkmaar in Group D.
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Maccabi Tel-Aviv's 2-1 victory in the Netherlands on UEFA Europa League matchday three means AZ Alkmaar are in dire straits; their qualification hopes will be over if they lose and Dundalk win at Zenit.
Previous meetings
• The sides met for the first time in UEFA competition on matchday three.
• Maccabi Tel-Aviv's five UEFA meetings with Dutch teams have ended W3 D0 L2.
• AZ's only previous encounters with Israeli opposition produced home and away wins against Maccabi Haifa in the 2013/14 UEFA Europa League group stage.
Form guide
• Maccabi won their first four UEFA home games of the season but that run ended in dramatic fashion on matchday one when they led 3-0 against Zenit but managed to lose 4-3.
• Maccabi and Gabala are the only teams to have made it from the first qualifying round to the group stage in this season's edition.
• AZ and Astra Giurgiu have conceded the most goals in this season's group stage: eight each. AZ's 5-0 loss at Zenit on matchday two was the heaviest European away defeat in their history.
• Maccabi have qualified for the round of 32 in one of their two previous UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League group stage campaigns, 2013/14.
• AZ have successfully navigated five of their eight previous UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League group stages.
Links and trivia
• The journey from Alkmaar to Tel Aviv is around 3,300km.
• Maccabi midfielder Haris Medunjanin started his career with AZ, representing the club from 2004–08, during which time he was a team-mate of his Maccabi coach, Shota Arveladze.
• AZ forward Robert Mühren is the nephew of former Netherlands duo Gerrie and Arnold Mühren; the latter lifted the UEFA Cup with Ipswich Town in 1981.
The coaches
• Maccabi's Georgian coach Arveladze hit an impressive 32 goals in 64 UEFA club games as a player, lifting league titles with Ajax, Rangers and Trabzonspor. He is in his first term in Israel having spent the last five years coaching in Turkey.
• Arveladze scored 48 goals in 89 outings in all competitions for AZ from 2005–07, and served as the club's assistant coach under Louis van Gaal and Ronald Koeman from 2008–10.
• AZ coach John van den Brom spent the bulk of his playing career as a midfielder for Vitesse and was capped twice by the Netherlands. As a coach, he claimed the Belgian championship with Anderlecht in 2013, taking command in Alkmaar in 2014.