Chemsdine Talbi's first-half brace and Simon Mignolet's heroics in goal helped Club Brugge knock Atalanta out of the Champions League.
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Talbi scored a brace within half an hourMignolet saved Lookman's penaltyClub Brugge progressed to round of 16Follow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱TELL ME MORE
The Belgian side won 3-2 on the night having come to the Gewiss Stadium with a 2-1 lead from the first leg, and it took them just three minutes to extend their lead. Ferran Jutgla was fed with a perfect pass behind the Atalanta backline and the Spanish attacker quickly squared the ball towards Chemsdine Talbi. The 19-year-old forward took one touch and fired the ball into the net.
In the 17th minute, Atalanta did manage to put the ball into the net when Mateo Retegui got to the end of Juan Cuadrado's low cross and slotted the ball home with a first-time attempt, however, the linesman had already signalled offside.
Three minutes before the half-hour mark, the visitors further increased their tally as Ardon Jashari made a brilliant solo run from a counter-attack and entered the box before feeding Christos Tzolis with a square pass. The Greek attacker's first-time attempt was blocked by Marco Carnesecchi but Talbi pushed the ball home from the rebound. At the stroke of half-time, the Belgian Pro League side sealed the fate of the tie with a third goal as Jutgla got his name on the scoresheet from Tzolis's assist.
After missing the last six matches across all competitions due to a knee problem, Atalanta star Ademola Lookman finally returned to action in the second half. The Nigerian's addition proved to be an instant impact as he pulled one back for his team within a minute from the break. Lookman, however, turned villain soon as Mignolet saved his spot-kick at the hour mark after Cuadrado was brought down inside the box.
Towards the end of regulation time, the hosts were reduced to 10 men as captain Rafael Toloi got into an unnecessary physical confrontation with Maxim De Cuyper and picked up a red card, compounding Atalanta's woes as they crashed out.
AdvertisementAFPTHE MVP
Despite Mignolet's heroics in goal, it was 19-year-old Talbi who stole the limelight with a brace under 30 minutes which completely took the game away from the Italian side. The teenager held his nerve on both occasions and comfortably sealed a memorable win for his side.
AFPTHE BIG LOSER
Atalanta skipper Toloi, along with the entire backline had a nightmare outing, especially in the first half which allowed Club Brugge to take a commanding lead and kill the game. The skipper then further added to the team's misery towards the end of the game with irresponsible behaviour as he went into a physical confrontation with De Cuyper and picked up a direct red card, thereby leaving his side down to 10 men.
WHAT COMES NEXT?
After the humiliating defeat in Europe, Atalanta will now shift their focus to Serie A where they are five points adrift of league leaders Napoli. They will next face Empoli on Sunday. On the same day, Club Brugge take on Standard in the Belgian Pro League.
