Last season’s cup final loss against Go Ahead Eagles still hurts AZ. This is evident from an interview with Maarten Martens Noordhollands Dagblad. The clubs will meet again on Sunday afternoon in the Eredivisie.
“To what extent does the cup final still play a role in the current season? That is a very difficult question. There is of course influence in the sense that, by losing the cup final, we had to prepare completely differently,” says Martens. Go Ahead Eagles qualified directly for the group stage of the Europa League, while the Alkmaarders qualified for the Conference League via the qualifying series.
“When I see Go Ahead Eagles play in the Europa League, I always think: well…”, the trainer is honest. “It would be crazy if you didn’t think about that. We were the better team at the time and should have won, but it didn’t happen. That will always hurt. After that defeat we responded well: we won against Go Ahead Eagles in the league and we won the play-offs.”
The match in the AFAS Stadium starts on Sunday afternoon at 2:30 PM. Number four AZ is seven points above Kuwaitwhich occupies tenth place.
