Atalanta vs Club Brugge

Atalanta will look to haul back a narrow deficit when they take on Club Brugge in a revenge-poised return leg of their Champions League knockout playoff tie.

One of the most controversial penalty calls in recent memory condemned Atalanta to a morale-wracking 2-1 defeat in the first leg. Slow to recover, Gian Piero Gasperini’s injury-hit team slumped to a scoreless home draw against Serie A minnows Cagliari last weekend. With just one win from six competitive games since the end of the league phase (D3, L2), Atalanta’s chances of overhauling a first-leg deficit in a major European tie for the first time since 1987/88 look bleak. Achieving that feat would see ‘La Dea’ win back-to-back home matches in the Champions League for the first time ever following a 5-0 rout of Sturm Graz. However, it’s worth noting that they’ve only won once in six competitive outings in Bergamo since the calendar year flipped to 2025 (D3, L2).

On the other hand, Club Brugge followed their first-leg heroics with a goal-glutted 2-2 draw against domestic rivals Sint-Truidense, extending their unbeaten streak in all competitions to four matches (W2, D2). Adding to this visitors’ confidence, they’ve only lost once in their last six Champions League outings (W3, D2), a run including a scoreless home draw against Atalanta’s fellow Serie A rivals Juventus. Despite boasting a narrow lead, Club Brugge can’t rest easy, knowing they’ve lost more European two-legged ties after winning the first leg than any other team in the competition’s history (16). Furthermore, they haven’t won any of their last seven away games against Italian opposition (D2, L5), including a 3-1 humbling at AC Milan earlier this term.