What! A! Game! An exuberant Jan Breydel was witness to a stunning masterpiece between Club Brugge and FC Barcelona, game ending in a 3-3 draw. The hosts claimed the lead at three occasions, first through Tresoldi followed up by a Forbs brace, but a fiery Barça managed to put the score in balance on each occasion. An absolute upset seemed in the making by the very end of the game as Vermant seemed to put Club ahead once more, but his winning goal was cancelled out.
The team that had beaten Dender on the weekend was changed in one position, as Raphael Onyedika was given the nod at the expense of Romeo Vermant, allowing skipper Hans Vanaken – in his 100th European game – to reclaim his favoured position spearheading midfield. Tresoldi started out as the lone forward again, assisted by Forbs and Tzolis on the wings.
Barça brought a star studded selection to Jan Breydel, but Club was unfased and started out in style. Just one minute in, Tzolis threatened a first time, but Szczesny had no trouble denying his shot. A confident Club kept coming, and five minutes later on, the joint was set ablaze a first time: Forbs cleverly sent through by Sabbe on the right, teeing up Tresoldi in front of goal to slide in the 1-0. Club's joy was short-lived, however, as a great Spanish attack through Yamal and Fermín López found Ferran Torres in front of goal, tapping in the equaliser.
The Spaniards immediately pushed on: thus López curled the leather against the outside of the post, while an effort by Rashford whizzed half a meter over the cross. Blauw-Zwart escaped with a scare and struck mercilessly after a quarter of an hour. After a lightning-fast counter, Tzolis launched Carlos Forbs. The Portuguese turned on his turbo again, stormed towards Szczesny and curled the 2-1 beautifully into the goal.
The visitors now insisted even more, and were unlucky as López saw his curled shot meet with the outside of the post, while a Rashford attempt went over. A lucky escape for Club, striking mercilessly again after a good fifteen minutes. A razor sharp counter went from Mechele to Vanaken, finding Forbs in the centre of the pitch with a great through ball. The ball then went in two touches off Tzolis back to Forbs, going for goal and putting it past Szczesny to make it an ubelievable 2-1 intermediate score. How about that!
Regaining command, Barcelona combined its way to more opportunities as Rashford's shot sailed well wide, Koundé's smashing shot hit the upper side of the bar, and Jackers went down well to deny Rashford once more. Club set up camp well, trying to go for the break, and it took an attentive Szczesny to save a Tzolis shot. One more visiting threat was to follow, but Torres was unable to tap in a quick break by the reigning Spanish champions.
Club left the dressing room in fine fettle, and Barcelona's Polish goalkeeper was called upon again to deny Seys from an acute angle. Over to the other side of the pitch, where Jackers showed his skills upon efforts by Lopez and Yamal. Showcasing the current unbelievable wealth of his selection, Hansi Flick brought on Dani Olmo and Robert Lewandowski, an injection of quality that paid off in spades. A long range rocket by Garcia first obliterated the crossbar, but soon after a magical move by Lamine Yamal, swerving through the Club defense, ended up against the back of the nets. Breathtaking.
Club had gathered some strength from its resilience, and once again it seemed on its way to put some distance between the two teams, but Forbs missed an excellent chance after some great build-up. Jan Breydel sighed, but was soon sent to its feet as the Portuguese winger was neatly sent deep by a once again astounding Vanaken, and swift winger did not faulter as he produced the slightest of chips to send it past a hapless Szcsesny. A rollercoaster of a game really seemed to be going Club's way when the ref pointed towards the spot after Forbs went down inside the box, but VAR overruled the decision. A lifeline for the visitors, with an increasingly industrious Yamal taking care of the most danger. A first blast towards the far corner was first saved by Jackers, but moments later an innocuous cross chipped off a defending Tzolis in goal. 3-3 and all to play for in an excruciating final fifteen minutes. Having just come on, Vermant chased Szczesny and got hold of the ball, scoring the easiest of tap ins to send Jan Breydel into a stupour, but after reviewing the footage, the ref cancelled it out, keeping the score at 3-3. A massive point for Club Brugge against one of Europe's greats in a night to remember.
UEFA Champions League - Match day 4
Audience: 29,042 - Jan Breydelstadion
Referee: Mr. Anthony Taylor (Eng)
Club Brugge: Nordin Jackers - Kyriani Sabbe, Joel Ordóñez, Brandon Mechele, Joaquin Seys - Aleksandar Stanković, Raphaël Onyedika (84' Lynnt Audoor, 87' Hugo Vetlesen), Hans Vanaken, Romeo Vermant - Carlos Forbs (78' Mamadou Diakhon), Nicolò Tresoldi (78' Romeo Vermant), Christos Tzolis.
Bench: Dani van den Heuvel, Axl De Corte, Zaid Romero, Hugo Vetlesen, Cisse Sandra, Gustaf Nilsson, Hugo Siquet, Jorne Spileers and Shandre Campbell.
Coach: Nicky Hayen.
FC Barcelona: Wojciech Szczesny - Jules Koundé, Ronald Araújo, Eric García (90+3' Pau Cubarsi), Alejandro Balde (90+3' Gerard Martin) - Frenkie De Jong, Marc Casadó (58' Dani Olmo) - Lamine Yamal, Fermín López, Marcus Rashford (83' Roony Bardghji) - Ferran Torres (58' Robert Lewandowski).
Coach: Hansi Flick.
Yellow: Onyedika, Koundé, Diakhon, Yamal, Lopez.
Red: none
Goals: 6' Tresoldi (1-0), 7' Torres (1-1), 17' Forbs (2-1), 61' Yamal (2-2), 63' Forbs (3-2), 77' Tzolis (owngoal, 3-3).