Xhaka vows 'fire' as Sunderland host AZ in Europa League opener
Granit Xhaka has promised “the stadium will be on fire” as Sunderland prepare to host AZ Alkmaar in their opening Europa League match at the Stadium of Light on Wednesday night. A near 49,000-capacity crowd is expected for the club’s return to European competition after a 53-year absence.
When Sunderland last competed in Europe, in the autumn of 1973, the club used the occasion to raise funds for floodlight upgrades at Roker Park, doubling admission prices for the second leg against Vasas of Budapest and drawing under 23,000 amid miners’ and railway workers’ industrial action. Dennis Tueart’s penalty sealed a 3-0 aggregate win in that tie. Fifty-three years on, Wearside again faces economic uncertainty as the cost of living rises and the gig economy affects job security, yet supporters are set to fill the Stadium of Light on Wednesday.
Xhaka, who played in two Europa League finals with Arsenal and Bayer Leverkusen and lost on both occasions, said: “The stadium will be on fire. And I want to see our players on fire, on and off the ball. I’ve always been a dreamer and, for me, it’s a big, big dream to reach another European final and to get it with this club.” The 33-year-old Switzerland midfielder is among those who turned down overtures from his old friend Xabi Alonso to join Chelsea this summer.
Four months ago, after Sunderland beat Chelsea at the Stadium of Light to secure a seventh-place finish in the Premier League and only the second European adventure in their history, Xhaka grabbed a microphone and declared: “This is just the beginning; we want more.” Manager Régis Le Bris faces the dual task of consolidating a second top-tier season after promotion while navigating a continental campaign that in December will transport them to San Siro and has prompted Newcastle fans to retire the chant “You’ll never see a Mackem in Milan.” T-shirts bearing the phrase “Mackem in Milan” have become common among Sunderland supporters.
Sunderland must also contend with a free-scoring AZ side that have won five and drawn one of their opening Eredivisie matches. Xhaka could come up against Kees Smit, described in the article as a 20-year-old widely regarded as among Europe’s most promising young midfielders.
“It’s a privilege to be here,” says Sunderland’s French manager. “I’m proud but we’ve earned it, the players worked very hard last season. Now we have a good opportunity and it’s important to go all in. “We want to be strong in both the Premier League and Europe. The players are looking forward to facing AZ; they’re excited. They want to be involved in this competition.”
The article notes the long-running connection between Le Bris and playmaker Enzo Le Fée, recalling that 14 years ago Le Bris, then an academy coach at Lorient, began working with the 12-year-old Le Fée. It also highlights Luke O’Nien’s rise: five years ago he was playing for Sunderland in League One against teams such as Accrington Stanley and Fleetwood, and on Wednesday night he will be part of Le Bris’s matchday squad. The club’s transformation is credited to the majority ownership of Kyril Louis-Dreyfus, who, according to the piece, intends this to be the first of many European adventures; the squad’s preparation is contrasted with the 1973 board’s mishaps, including pickpocketing on a trip to Lisbon noted by club historian Rob Mason.
The squad contains a number of players with prior continental experience: Nordi Mukiele, Reinildo, Omar Alderete, Noah Sadiki, Le Fée, Brian Brobbey and Xhaka. On the dressing-room atmosphere, Xhaka said: “To succeed in Europe you need energy in the dressing room. And that is what we have. The first step I took in the dressing room last season, I had a very good feeling. I could smell that it was special. “So the energy, the mindset is there. If you don’t have this desire, this hunger, this mentality to compete every single day, forget about this level. But this team has it and, game by game, this team will show it. You need luck but I’m very positive and optimistic that we can go very far in this competition. “The energy, the connectivity, the togetherness in our dressing room is amazing. I’m grateful that I’m here.”
Sunderland’s immediate task is Wednesday night’s Europa League opener against AZ Alkmaar at the Stadium of Light, with the wider competition schedule including a December fixture at San Siro as part of the campaign noted in the article.