On matchday 5 of the UEFA Champions League, Club Brugge traveled to Glasgow to take on Celtic. Club got off to an excellent start and took the lead midway through the first half after an owngoal by Carter-Vickers. On the hour, the home team evened the boards after a clever goal by Maeda. 1-1 also turned out to be the final score and so the Bruges players had to be satisfied with a point tie.
Blauw-Zwart tanked a lot of confidence last weekend by canning STVV 7-0 at home. Consequently, Coach Hayen did not have many reasons to tinker much with his starting lineup for the confrontation with Celtic. Nevertheless, three changes were made and the first occurred in defense. Ordóñez was invariably Mechele's central partner in Bruges' defense in European matches and this time was no different. The Ecuadorian thus displaced Spileers to the bench again and so did Talbi. The young flank player had to be satisfied with a place on the bench in favor of Skov Olsen. Finally, Jutglà was given confidence in the striker and this at the expense of Vermant. Perhaps the most striking name at Celtic was English, as the young midfielder had a past at Club NXT.
It was fairly quickly apparent that Club were not at all impressed by the circumstances, as the Bridge goalkeepers immediately demanded the ball and kept the ball moving well. After four minutes, this already resulted in an excellent opportunity for Jutglà, but his left footed effort from just outside the penalty area went just wide of the post. After about fifteen minutes, the home side got into the game a little better and put their nose to the window for the first time. Maeda put himself through on the left flank and brought the ball well low into the sixteen. There Engels infiltrated, but fortunately kicked high over goal. Halfway through the first half we consequently noted one chance on both sides, but mainly a lot of ball possession and control from Blauw-Zwart.
That control was converted into a Bruges lead after a quick turnaround and the ball ended up in the hands of Skov Olsen. The Danish winger then came inside in his typical manner, but placed the leather wide of the far post. A few minutes later, Club earned the lead. Both Jutglà and De Cuyper put good pressure on the Scottish defense, forcing them into mistakes. Carter-Vickers played the ball back towards Schmeichel, but did so blindly. The Celtic goalie was standing next to his goal and so the ball rolled agonizingly slowly against the nets. Celtic had to recover from this, but quickly put their heads together. Gradually they took more and more control of the match and that resulted in a chance for Hatate. Kühn played a subtle ball into the sixteen and there Hatate popped up in front of Mignolet. Fortunately, the Japanese chose the difficult solution by deviating the ball with his head. Thus, Mignolet could easily neutralize the danger. Thus, Blue-Black finally went to rest with a small lead....
The second half started with the same 22 tenors and again it was Club that got off to the best start. De Cuyper first showed himself with a good defensive action and then he set up the counter himself. After a long rush, he got the leather back from Tzolis and dribbled his way past his opponent. In the end, his shot was also excellent, but the same could equally be said of Schmeichel's save. Things were now going up and down quickly, as Celtic responded moments later with a hard shot from outside the sixteen from Hatate. Fortunately, his kick went just wide of Mignolet's cage. Just before the hour, Club showed themselves once more through an excellent cross from De Cuyper, but Skov Olsen at the far post unfortunately could not keep the ball down. Almost immediately after this, it was a prize for the home team. Maeda received the ball on the left flank, outmaneuvered Seys and curled the ball past Mignolet at the far post.
Just after midway through the second half, Bruges fans were once again ecstatic when Jutglà beat Schmeichel from close range. The joy was unfortunately short-lived, however, as the Catalan striker was a heel offside and consequently the party did not continue. The dime could now fall on either side, as Celtic was also dangerous once more. Bernardo cut out Jashari on the edge of the sixteen and then kicked towards the far corner with his left. Mignolet was nailed to the ground, but fortunately saw the shot go wide of the goal. It promised to be an exciting final quarter and both coaches decided to make some substitutions. Skov Olsen and Jutglà were substituted for Talbi and Vermant. The latter tried his luck a few minutes later with a shot from long range, but this posed no problem for Schmeichel.
Four minutes of extra time were eventually counted, but in it no more danger was created. So after a strong game Blauw-Zwart had to be satisfied with a draw, but everything remains possible with a view to the next round.
UEFA Champions League - Playday 5
Spectators: 60,411 - Celtic Park
Referee: Georgi Kabakov (BUL)
Celtic FC: Kasper Schmeichel - Alistair Johnston, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Auston Trusty, Greg Taylor (59' Álex Valle) - Arne Engels (59' Paulo Bernardo), Callum McGregor, Reo Hatate - Nicolas Kühn (88' Hyun-jun Yang), Kyogo Furuhashi (76' Adam Idah), Daizen Maeda (76' James Forrest).
Bench: Viljamo Sinisalo, Liam Scales, Luis Palma, Adam Idah, Álex Valle, Hyun-jun Yang, Luke McCowan, Maik Nawrocki, Paulo Bernardo, James Forrest, Anthony Ralston, Stephen Welsh.
Coach: Brendan Rodgers.
Club Brugge: Simon Mignolet - Joaquin Seys, Brandon Mechele, Joel Ordóñez, Maxim De Cuyper - Raphael Onyedika, Ardon Jashari, Hans Vanaken - Andreas Skov Olsen (77' Chemsdine Talbi), Ferran Jutglà (77' Romeo Vermant), Christos Tzolis (90+3' Nielsen).
Bench: Nordin Jackers, Zaid Romero, Hugo Vetlesen, Romeo Vermant, Michał Skóraś, Casper Nielsen, Jorne Spileers, Kyriani Sabbe, Chemsdine Talbi.
Coach: Nicky Hayen.
Yellow cards: Ordóñez, Mechele, Paulo Bernardo, Seys
Red cards: none
Goals: 26' Carter-Vickers (OG) (0-1), 60' Maeda (1-1)