Club Brugge netted a thrilling late equalizer while battling back twice against Atletico Madrid, leaving their Champions League knockout phase play-off tie finely balanced.
The hosts, who were behind 2-0 at halftime due to a Julian Alvarez penalty and Ademola Lookman’s goal, came back after the break with Raphael Onyedika and Nicolo Tresoldi equalizing.
An own goal by Joel Ordonez almost negated their efforts until Christos Tzolis scored an equalizer in the 89th minute to conclude a back-and-forth match.
The guests started flawlessly, as Alvarez scored from the penalty after home defender Joaquin Seys mishandled a clearance and was called for a handball in his own area.
When Lookman scored on his European debut for Atletico just before halftime against a Club Brugge team he encountered as an Atalanta player in September, Diego Simeone’s team appeared set for an easy win.
Yet, Nigeria international Onyedika nudged in shortly after the break to reinvigorate the hosts’ chances in the match.
When the remarkable Tresoldi equalized in the 60th minute, managing to get around his defender to guide the ball past goalkeeper Jan Oblak, they appeared poised to achieve an incredible comeback.
Onyedika nearly scored twice in the first half, while Atletico, after taking the lead, was at fault for becoming too defensive.
Simeone, having seen his team demolish Barcelona and then suffer a disheartening 3-0 loss to Rayo Vallecano, appeared quite unhappy in his technical area, but bringing on Alexander Sorloth assisted in reversing the momentum for his side.
The Norway international struck the crossbar just four minutes after coming on for Antoine Griezmann and nearly scored again before forcing Ordonez to deflect it into his own goal.
Club Brugge would not be denied, as Greek international Tzolis secured a draw with a precise finish.
The second match occurs in Madrid on Tuesday, 24 February (20:00 GMT), with the victors meeting Liverpool or Tottenham in the round of 16.
