Alkmaar football club AZ are out of the Conference League after drawing 2-2 at home against Ukrainian team Shakhtar Donetsk on Thursday, losing 5-2 on aggregate in the quarter-finals.

AZ’s coach Leeroy Echteld rested most of the team’s strongest players ahead of Sunday’s KNVB cup final against NEC in Rotterdam, effectively conceding the tie after last week’s 3-0 defeat in Kraków. Striker Troy Parrott and midfielder Sven Mijnans were among those left on the bench.

Just 13,000 supporters turned out at the AFAS Stadium, and AZ’s exit means no Dutch clubs remain in European competition this season.

The Netherlands has already slipped to seventh in Uefa’s country coefficient rankings, behind Portugal, with no remaining matches to close the gap.

The coefficient – based on how well a country’s clubs do in Europe over five seasons – decides how many teams each league can send to European competition. This season’s final ranking will set the allocation for 2027-28.

The Dutch league currently sends six clubs to European competition each season, including two directly into the Champions League. From 2027-28, that will drop to five clubs and just one direct Champions League place. The runners-up will have to go through qualifying rounds.