Club Brugge U19 loses 1-3 to efficient Atlético Madrid

The third match in the UEFA Youth League was against group leader Atlético Madrid. The Spaniards took an early lead. Club NXT U19 went on the attack almost the entire match, created a lot of goal chances, and saw two goals disallowed. An efficient Atlético scored twice more in the second half. Goemaere was able to save Bruges' honor just before the whistle.

The youngsters of Club Brugge U19 started the match eagerly. Through Talbi and Vanrafelghem, Vermant had the first chance to score, but it just didn't work out. Atlético's first really good chance did come. The Bruges defense was outplayed and Niño scored the 0-1. This early deficit motivated Blauw-Zwart even more to advance towards Madrid's goal. But no matter how hard they tried, the ball did not go in. Liam De Smet inexplicably kicked high over goal from close range. Talbi hit the post. A crafty ball by Sem Audoor was narrowly turned into a corner by goalkeeper Iturbe. Chances from Vermant, Vanrafelghem and Mondele resulted in corner kicks. The Spanish goalkeeper kept the zero, until just before halftime Vanrafelghem was able to head in hard. However, the Norwegian referee disallowed the goal because of a prior pushing error. Club Brugge U19 went to the dressing rooms with an undeserved deficit.

Willems replaced Ordoñez at the start of the second half. Atlético was already cashing in on its first good chance. A corner kick by Diez Roldan went past everyone and disappeared into goal. 0-2, very sour. But whoever thought that Club Brugge U19 would throw in the towel was wrong. Blauwzwart went in search of the tying goal. But the ball would not go into the Madrid goal. Vanrafelghem missed several beckoning chances. De Roeve headed narrowly over the goal. At Atlético, Gismera went solo through the Bruges lines and finished with a fine finish. 0-3 and the spoils seemed to be within reach for the Spaniards. Goalkeeper Vroman prevented the 0-4 with a fine save shortly afterwards. At Madrid, Boñar received a second yellow card and was allowed to take a shower.

With one man more, Club Brugge U19 could not finish off their many chances. The substitute Goemaere could not score after the hard working Audoor stole the ball from Atlético. Vermant hit the post and another goal was disallowed due to alleged hand play. Moreover, Vermant was unjustly shown a second yellow card. Club Brugge U19 had to continue the last minutes with ten against ten. Seys saved the 0-4 in extremis, and in the end it was Goemaere who made the final score. He headed the ball beautifully into the top corner of the Spanish goal. 1-3, honor was saved, but there was much more in it. Next Wednesday Club Brugge U19 can already take revenge for this defeat in Madrid. Atlético leads Group B with the maximum of points. Club Brugge U19 remains stuck on 3 points.

Club Brugge U19: Kiany Vroman, Denzel De Roeve, Joël Ordonez (46' Jano Willems), Lukas Mondele (76' Mamady Diawara), Arne Engels (64' Laurens Goemare), Chemsdine Talbi (64' Lenn De Smet), Liam De Smet, Sem Audoor, Joaquin Seys, Romeo Vermant, Keano Vanrafelghem (87' Tobias Lund-Jensen). Bench: Henri Maton, Jonathan Foss.
Coach: Nicky Hayen.

Atlético Madrid: Alejandro Iturbe, Sergio Diez (72' Jorge San José), Ilias Kostis, Javier Boñar, Daniel Moreno, Aitor Gismera, Adrian Niño Heredia (72' Marcos Denia), Javier Diaz Igual (72' Sergio Bernardez), Abdellah Raihani Ennaou (64' Ivan Vasiljevic Djorjevic), Fabian Urzain Egido (60' Alvaro Santamaria), Julio Diaz.
Coach: Fernando Torres.

Goals: 12' Nino (Diaz) 0-1, 49' Diez 0-2, 60' Gismera (Diaz) 0-3, 90' Goemare (Willems) 1-3.

Yellow cards: Vanrafelghem, Gismera.
Red cards: 64' Boñar (2x yellow), 84' Vermant (2x yellow).

Referee: Kristoffer Hageness (Norwegian)

Stadium: The Nest Roeselare

Spectators: 510.