THE GAME
Barcelona visited the Jan Breydelstadion to face Club Brugge for Matchday 4 of the UEFA Champions League. Quite unexpectedly, the hosts took a 1-0 lead over the five-time winners after just 6 minutes into the first-half through Nicolo Tresoldi, breaking through the offside trap orchestrated by Hansi Flick’s men.
The Blaugranas were very quick to react as Ferran Torres saw his attempt find the back of the net as he equalised for his team just 2 minutes later. Soon after, Carlos Forbs would put the ‘Blauw-Zwarts’ ahead for the second time in that game.
Belgian manager Nicky Hayen’s team would retain their lead for the better part of the hour until Barcelona’s main man Lamine Yamal phased through the Brugge defence and slotted the ball in the far corner after receiving a wonderful backheel pass from Fermin Lopez. The drama didn’t end there as just mere minutes later, the home side would score another goal by exploiting the visitor’s highline to force a one-on-one situation with Polish goalkeeper, Wojciech Szczesny, who was unable to deny Carlos Forbs his second of the night.
After repeated attempts by the visitors were either missed or wonderfully saved, Brugge forward Christos Tzolis unintentionally scored an own-goal in an attempt to clear the ball. Barcelona were now level as they came back from a goal down for the third time in the match.
This would not be the end of worries for the Spanish champions as a relentless Brugge side were given a penalty by Anthony Taylor which was then overturned by VAR. Similarly as this exciting tie was nearing its end, heartbreak in stoppage time struck again for Hansi Flick’s side as Romeo Vermant scored a goal to make it 4-3 after winning the ball from a confused Szczesny.
The celebrations didn’t last long as the goal was disallowed by a foul on the goalkeeper by Vermant, the match then ended 3-3.
POST MATCH THOUGHTS
Barcelona’s dangerously high line yet again put them in an awkward position as they had no answer for a streak of brilliantly timed runs from the opposition. The standout performer last evening was Carlos Forbs whose brace had Brugge briefly ahead in the tie twice.
It was an end-to-end contest with no clear dominance, as both teams produced identical expected goals (xG) figures of 2.14, reflecting that the draw was a fair reflection of the game.
At 21 years and 231 days old, Forbs etched his name into the record books by becoming the youngest player ever to both score and assist in a Champions League match against Barcelona, breaking David Beckham’s long-standing record from September 1998, when he achieved the feat at 23 years and 137 days.
When asked about a potential change in tactics to a more conservative approach, Hansi Flick stated that, “We can make it like this, that we make a low block and defend in the first third, When there is no intensity, you have no chance in the Champions League. Everyone is able to play fast, transition fast and Brugge did it really good, as we expected.”
THE LEAGUE PHASE TABLE
The five time winners currently sit at 11th position, making them safe from elimination for now. With 7 points (W2, D1, L1), they sit level on points with 5 other teams including their next opponents, Chelsea.
WHAT’S NEXT?
Barcelona will return to action in the Champions League for Matchday 5, later this month, as they visit the reigning World Champions, Chelsea, for a long-awaited clash.
