Football Espana
·4 October 2022
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Yahoo sportsFootball Espana
·4 October 2022
Club Brugge 2-0 Atletico Madrid
This match had all the ingredients of an upset before it began and yet, by the end of the match, there was little to suggest it was even an upset.
Brugge came into the match on six points, leading the group ahead of Atletico Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen on three. Los Colchoneros have been a long way from scintillating throughout the season and it was definitely Brugge that came closer to that adjective in Belgium.
The home side made most of the running in the first half, with Atleti’s attacks arriving only in fits and bursts. It wasn’t intentional. Eventually, Brugge were rewarded as an excellent piece of interplay between Kamal Sowah and Ferran Jutgla cut through the Atleti defence and opened the scoring. The most notable news from the first half for Atleti was that Marcos Llorente left the pitch injured, replaced by Angel Correa.
Jutgla was then kept out by Oblak early in the second period and although Atleti began to cause more issues of their own, just past the hour mark the Catalan doubled Brugge’s lead. Picking up the ball outside the box, a give and go with Sowah, aided by Axel Witsel, allowed Jutgla to finish low into the corner beyond Oblak.
As Diego Simeone threw what he had at Brugge, Antoine Griezmann came closest in a remarkable sequence of play. Matheus Cunha showed good hustle to get behind the Belgian defence and was brought down for a penalty. Griezmann thundered it off the bar and barely had the crowd calmed their celebrations before the Frenchman thumped it in, getting down the left side of the defence – only for it to be ruled offside.
Try as they might, Atleti knew it would not be their night from then on. Once again this year will be a struggle to make the knockouts for Atletico. They sit level with Bayer Leverkusen and Porto on three points, Brugge lead the way on nine. Just as concerning for Simeone is how inferior they looked to Brugge during spells of the match.