In a somewhat desolate Zurich, Club Brugge successfully completed their European mission against Lugano with some difficulty. Blauw-Zwart worked their way to a double lead but ultimately held their own against a hard-fighting home team.
Club Brugge is having a difficult season so far. Blauw-Zwart started well under Deila, but were unable to win their final matches, including a bitter defeat to bottom club KV Kortrijk. The club has been on schedule in Europe with four out of six, and the win on Swiss soil has the people of Bruges already dreaming of a European winter.
Balanta, of all people, breaks the ban
Logano took the most initiative in the opening stage and created some corner kicks, but there was little danger from that. Fifteen minutes later, Brugge’s first excellent goal opportunity came immediately. Zinckernagel sent a perfect cross from the right flank and Balanta headed home powerfully: 0-1.
After that, Klopp calmly took control, and Nielsen created another chance on the half-hour mark, flying wide of Sipe’s cage. Logano didn’t have any real good chances, as the few half-chances gave Mignolet no trouble at all. After a relatively dull first half, the Club took a slight lead midway through the first half.
First starting place of the season: ✅
First goal of the season: ✅ pic.twitter.com/vwMEYrk2Sr– Play sports (@playsports) October 26, 2023
0-1!! Balanta opens the scoring for Bayern on Swiss soil! 🔵⚫️ #UECL#FCCLLU |⏱️ 15′ pic.twitter.com/6ECMffjvnt
– Club Brugge KV (@ClubBrugge) October 26, 2023
Logano knocks on the door hard
At the beginning of the second half, Gutgla replaced Thiago, who had previously received the second yellow card several times. During Brugge’s first attack, Vanakken forgot to aim his shot from close range. However, the double lead did not last long, and a few minutes later Skov Olsen hit a powerful shot from around twenty meters and the 0-2 score disappeared neatly into the corner.
The Swiss finally woke up and before the hour mark, Mignolet kept a potential equalizer off target, followed shortly afterwards by Bislemy’s effort which hit the post. Logano continued to create some scoring chances after that, but fortunately for the club, the equalizer was not achieved for long.
Fifteen minutes before the end of the match, the Swiss scored: Mignolet blocked a shot, then Vladi followed up on the rebound to make the score 1-2. Moments later, the home team’s penalty was (correctly) disallowed by VAR. Vanakin helped the trembling club to victory in the final stage by heading the 1-3 goal after a corner kick from close range. This means that winter in Europe is very close for Deila and its partners.
Result progress:
0-1 (15′) Balanta, 0-2 (50′) Skov Olsen, 1-2 (74′) Vladi, 1-3 (87′) Vanakin
