Club Brugge Hold Atletico Madrid To Draw. Despite Joel Ordonez's Late Own Goal

 

Club Brugge fought back to secure a 3-3 draw against Atletico Madrid, with a stoppage-time goal from Christos Tzolis in the UEFA Champions League playoffs first-leg tie at Jay Breydel Stadium.

What initially seemed like a cruise to victory for Atletico took a turnaround as the Belgian dazzled the Spaniards with an equaliser. They even undo Joel Ordonez's own goal, which should have handed Atletico a comeback victory. 

Atletico had a dominant first half, starting from the 8th minute. After Julian Lavarez converted a penalty and put Atletico in the lead, Ademola Lookman doubled the lead on the brink of halftime. The Nigerian forward tapped in from close range a flicker from Griezmann following a corner. 

Brugge pulled one goal back soon after the break through Raphael Onyedika. The midfielder nodded home a rebound from NicoloTresoldi's header. Nine minutes later, Nicolo equalised for the Belgians, deflecting home Mamadou Diakhou's cross from inside the six-yard box. 

In the latter stages, Atletico retook the lead from Joel Ordonez's own goal. The defender poked into his own net a cross from Marcos Llorente. Brugge later restored level terms on the brink of stoppage time as Onyedika's cross set off Tzolis, and he curled it into the left corner. 

The draw gave Brugge a fair head start in the playoffs. Atletico will host the Belgians in the second-leg tie at Riyadh Air Metropolises Stadium.

Overview 

Atletico fairly dominated from the start of the game, despite Club Brugge being resilient. The Spaniards opened them to allow for penetration, but they found the second goal from a set-piece. Lookman well anticipated his position for the arrival of a flicker following the corner. 

Club Brugge were awakened to their lapses in the first half. They held possession much longer to open up Atletico and were able to penetrate deeper into the Spaniards' half. Atletico were not as vibrant as they were in the previous half and were forced to defend as the Belgians gained level terms. Ordonez's own goal should have been rewarding for the Spaniard, but Tzoli canceled that out.