Alexander Sorloth Scores Hat-trick As Atletico Madrid Beat Club Brugge To Qualify For UCL Knockouts

 

Atletico Madrid have secured their place in the UEFA Champions League knockouts, after defeating Club Brugge by 4-1 in the second-leg playoff and qualified for the Last 16 on an aggregate score of 7-4. 

Alexander Sorloth scored a hat-trick towards the victory, leading the Spaniards to outclass the Belgians, whom they drew 3-3 against in the first-leg playoff. Unlike their previous game, Aletico were more impressive, and Brugge could not pull off a second-half thriller to force the game to extra time. 

Earlier, Brugge had a good chance of taking the lead from Hugo Vetlesen's goal-bound volley, but David Hancko blocked the effort. Sorloth responded to the shock, capitalising on Brandon Michele's defending flop and struck the ball into the bottom left post. 

Midway through the half, Joel Ordonez restored level terms for Brugge, nodding home a flicker from Michele following a corner. Two minutes into the second half, Johnny Cardosoretook the lead for Atletico, striking a volley into the right post. 

Sorloth later completed his hat-trick, finishing off a through pass from Ademola Lookman for the third goal, and he scored the fourth goal by tapping in Ruggeri's cross from close range. 

Atletico had won three of their last four games against Brugges, and have now qualified for the Last 16 of the UEFA Champions League, eliminating the Belgians in the second-leg playoff. 

Overview 

It was a total takedown of Brugge. They barely could resist the Spaniards from getting by. Atletico found the pace to put opponents after the shared first half. Sorloth was having a great game as Brugge's defense repeatedly left him unmarked. He was barely marked, scoring both the third and the fourth goals. 

Brugge did a terrible job defense-wise, and they were unsuspecting of Sorloth. Likewise, Vetel almost caused a scare for Atletico, making two-goal attempts that could have been a setback for the Spaniard, but Jan Oblak made a good touchline save to keep the side in the game. 

The wings were productive for Aletico, with Ademola Lookma doing a great job, providing the pace needed to fire up the attack. The Nigerian striker, Ademola, was unselfish with the assist, leading to the third goal from Sorloth, who was unmarked in front of the goal. Brugge's defense was terrible enough for Sorloth to take the chances.