AZ, who made it to the round of 16 in last year's Europa League before being eliminated by later champions Tottenham Hotspur, handed teenage prodigy Kees Smit the start in midfield over Sven Mijnans, who refused to practice as a transfer saga with PSV held the midfield star in its grasp.
Veikkausliga leaders Ilves, who were condemned to Conference League qualifying after a 6-0 thumping at the hands of Shakhtar Donetsk, opted for a single striker instead of last weekend's two-striker system, handing Maksim Stjopin the start over Adeleke Akinyemi.
A major defensive mishap from AZ centre-half Maxim Dekker handed Ilves striker Roope Riski a golden opportunity to score the opening goal. A long ball from defender Matias Rale sailed over the head of Dekker, putting Riski eye-to-eye with goalkeeper Jeroen Zoet, who had no reply to the striker's sharp finish.
Eight minutes after Riski's opener, Irish hitman Troy Parrott put AZ back alongside Ilves with a handy lob over Ilves captain Otso Virtanen.
A big chance for Kees Smit, who won the Player of the Tournament award at this summer's Under-19 European Championships, saw the youngster smash the ball against the upright. Team-mate Ernest Poku got another big chance soon after, but the speedy winger rocketed the ball into row Z.
Ilves headed into the break with the lead as Vincent Ulundu found Riski in the box and saw his striker expertly head the ball past Zoet in the second minute of injury time.
Fifteen minutes after the break, Sven Mijnans got his first minutes of the season after replacing captain Jordy Clasie, and the former made his presence known straight away, scoring the 2-2 three minutes after coming on.
Another defensive mishap, this time from a struggling Alexandre Penetra, saw substitute Akinyemi easily slice through the AZ defence and put another goal past Zoet, who conceded his third goal of the evening in the 68th minute.
The defensive errors of the Alkmaar outfit kept piling up when Maxim Dekker did not pay attention during an Ilves throw-in and let Maksim Stjopin pass the ball to a lonely Marius Soderback, who beat Peer Koopmeiners in a one-on-one and easily slotted the ball in the bottom-right corner.
A number of AZ chances could not find the net, and after Saul Vaisanen squandered another big Ilves chance, proven super-sub Mexx Meerdink got one back for AZ, who fought to a 4-3 loss in Tampere and have it all to do in the away leg in Alkmaar.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Roope Riski (Ilves)
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