Many a boyhood dream came true at Club on matchday 3 of the UEFA Champions League, as the team headed for the mythical San Siro Stadium to face locals AC Milan. An excruciating start by the visitors did not result in any scoring, and half an hour into the game, Club suffered two blows in a matter of minutes as Pulisic opened the score and Onyedika saw a red card. One man down, Club still managed to draw level through Sabbe, but ultimately collapsed as two Reijnders goals made it 3-1 on the night for AC Milan.
No reason to make too many changes to the team that had overcome Westerlo over the weekend. In defense, Ordóñez reclaimed his spot at the expense of Spileers, and in attack, Jutglà was joined by Tzolis and Talbi. No surprises in AC Milan's line-up, meaning the Italians brought in the big guns, the likes of Morata, Leão and Pulisic.
Not at all rattled by the circumstances, Club started out great, and managed to stick its nose against the window a couple of times. Three minutes in, this resulted in a massive chance for Tzolis, who was allowed to pull the trigger from close range, but Maignan thwarted the effort with a quick sweep of his leg. One minute later, Jutglà was played the ball by Tzolis, but the Catalan striker leaned back a bit too much to be able to frame his shot. An industrious Tzolis remained the one to look out for, this time swerving past his defender on the left wing just outside the box and going for the far corner, but again Maignan had an excellent save in store tapping it away. The ensuing corner kick also came with some danger, with De Cuyper's attempt first blocked, but the ball came to Ordóñez, who did not hesitate and fired away from well outside the box, but the slammer ended up against the crossbar.
The Club storm abating somewhat, Milan managed to restore the balance, and a first threat came halfway through the first half as Gabbia headed a corner kick wide of target. A couple of minutes later, Mignolet was called upon a first time, as Leão dribbled inside the box on speed, teeing up Pulisic by the far post, but the shot from an acute angle could not find Mignolet at fault. In what was now a seesaw of a game, Tzolis pushed forward deep into the Milan half, only to find Jutglà who tried from a narrow angle, but again Maignan managed to get a foot to it. Club had had a really good start to the game, but thirty minutes in, it conceded the opener, and this in a somewhat clumsy way. Pulisic with the corner kick, going through a bunch of players, and surprising Mignolet as it fell in one go. Adding salt to injury, Club saw Onyedika being sent off after a duel with Reijnders, with the Nigerian unintentionally stepping on the foot the Dutchman. VAR intervened, and a harsh verdict was past, bringing Club down to ten just as it went 1-0 down. Added time saw one more Club attempt through Talbi, but his shot was too central to really upset Maignan.
Bringing on Vetlesen and Sabbe for Talbi and Seys, coach Hayen tried turning the tides, knowing that the hosts would have an easier time finding the space to set up their wingers. After a fine chance for Hernandez, set up by Leao after a great dribble on speed, fired over, Club started combining on the left wing and made it through the Milan defense as the ball was pulled back to Sabbe by the far post who did not hesitate and neatly tucked in the equaliser. The hosts proved taken aback, and Club retained its fine organisation, allowing it to lure on the break. Fifteen minutes into the second half, however, Club trailed again as Okafor pushed on at great speed, finding Reijnders in the centre to put it past a hapless Mignolet. Another setback to the visitors, coming close to "game over" a bit later as Jashari's unfortunate touch to the ball ended up just over the crossbar.
Still, the game was not over just yet. A fine combination put Vetlesen eye-to-eye with Mangain by the far post, but the Norwegian could not put enough force on his shot to truely bewilder the French goalie. A third home goal came a bit later, and again Reijnders was the one pulling the trigger, in a bit of a copy of his first; this time it was Chukwueze going past Vanaken on the right wing and neatly pulling back to the Dutchman. Out of breath, Club longed for the end, and a fourth Milan goal was denied due to off-side by Camarda. A bit later the speedy Chukwueze again pushed on towards the goal line, but this time Mignolet stood ground.
The five minutes of added time did not come with further damage to either team, making it a frustrating 3-1 defeat at AC Milan. On Sunday, the clash at Jan Breydel with RSC Anderlecht awaits.
UEFA Champions League – Match Day 3
Audience: 75,817– Stadio Giuseppe Meazza (San Siro)
Ref: Mr. Felix Zwayer (DUI)
AC Milan: Mike Maignan – Emerson, Matteo Gabbia (83’ Malick Thiaw), Fikayo Tomori, Theo Hernández – Christian Pulisic, Youssouf Fofana (75’ Yunus Musah), Ruben Loftus-Cheek (60’ Noah Okafor), Tijjani Reijnders, Rafael Leão (60’ Samuel Chukwueze) – Álvaro Morata (75’ Francesco Camarda).
Bench: Marco Sportiello, Lorenzo Torriani, Noah Okafor, Kevin Zeroli, Samuel Chukwueze, Malick Thiaw, Strahinja Pavlović, Filippo Terracciano, Francesco Camarda, Yunus Musah.
Coach: Paulo Fonseca.
Club Brugge: Simon Mignolet – Joaquin Seys (46’ Kyriani Sabbe), Brandon Mechele, Joel Ordóñez, Maxim De Cuyper – Raphael Onyedika, Ardon Jashari (83’ Casper Nielsen), Hans Vanaken – Chemsdine Talbi (46’ Hugo Vetlesen), Ferran Jutglà (70' Michał Skóraś), Christos Tzolis (70' Andreas Skov Olsen).
Bench: Nordin Jackers, Jorne Spileers, Hugo Vetlesen, Zaid Romero, Andreas Skov Olsen, Kyriani Sabbe, Casper Nielsen, Michał Skóraś, Romeo Vermant.
Coach: Nicky Hayen.
Yellow: Seys, Jashari, Leão, Morata, Gabbia, Skóraś, Camarda
Red: Onyedika
Goals: 34’ Pulisic (1-0), 51’ Sabbe (1-1), 61’ Reijnders (2-1), 71’ Reijnders (3-1)