AZ Alkmaar - Lech Poznań 4:0

The training match against AZ Alkmaar was Lech’s third pre-season friendly. Previously, John van den Brom’s squad faced Slovan Liberec (1:3), and Banik Ostrava (1:1). However, unlike in the first two friendlies, this time Lech’s coach had all the players at his disposal.

Last Saturday, Lech had a difficult task to complete – they faced AZ Alkmaar, a Dutch side that reached the semifinals of the Europa Conference League last season. The squad from the Netherlands went one level further than Lech did in the 2022/2023 campaign before being eliminated by West Ham United (0:1 and 1:2).

John van den Brom formed the initial line-up using the players who did not make an appearance in Lech’s previous friendlies, among them Jesper Karlström and Kristoffer Velde who were with their national team, and Miha Blažic for whom the Saturday game was a debut.

The hosts dominated from the opening minutes, both, in terms of the possession of the ball, and goal-scoring opportunities, but Filip Bednarek was defending impressively. AZ Alkmaar scored for the first time in the 21st minute – Vangelis Pavlidis defeated Bednarek with a flat, precise shot.

In the following minutes, Lech came close to equalising a few times. Kristoffer Velde and Adriel Ba Loua both tried to surprise the Dutch defence but they failed. An hour into the match, the Polish side had a perfect chance to score, however, Artur Sobiech hit the crossbar, and Filip Marchwiński’s follow-up shot was off target.

It’s worth mentioning that Mikael Ishak spent 30 minutes on the pitch after being absent for a few months due to a bacterial infection. The captain replaced Filip Marchwiński on the field. Meanwhile, Adriel Ba Loua came off to make space for Dino Hotić – another recent signing for whom the friendly was an unofficial debut.

In the last 15 minutes of the match, AZ Alkmaar scored twice more, both goals thanks to Mayckel Lahdo. In the 81^st minute, Lech’s youngster Maksymilian Pingot made an unfortunate mistake which cost Lech another goal. As a result, the team from Poznań was defeated 4:0.

AZ Alkmaar - Lech Poznań 4:0 (1:0)

Goals: Pavlidis (21.), Lahdo (76., 90.), Pingot (81. – own goal)
Yellow cards: Sobiech

Lech Poznań: Filip Bednarek - Joel Pereira (76. Filip Borowski), Miha Blažič (46. Alan Czerwiński), Antonio Milić (76. Maksymilian Pingot), Barry Douglas (46. Michał Gurgul) - Adriel Ba Loua (66. Dino Hotić), Radosław Murawski (76. Aleksander Nadolski), Jesper Karlström (46. Afonso Sousa), Kristoffer Velde (46. Artur Sobiech) - Filip Marchwiński (66. Mikael Ishak) - Filip Szymczak (66. Filip Wilak)