BERGAMO: Club Brugge’s elimination of Serie A side Atalanta in the Champions League playoffs on Tuesday was described as a shock in some quarters but did not surprise their coach Nicky Hayen in the slightest.
The Belgian side held a 2-1 advantage going into the second leg and romped to a 3-0 half-time lead in Italy to put the game beyond last season’s Europa League winners.
Atalanta pulled a goal back 35 seconds into the second half but were unable to narrow the deficit further, with Ademola Lookman having a penalty saved by Simon Mignolet on the hour mark.
“We conceded that goal very quickly. Then we were lucky that Simon saved that penalty. We had to survive,” said Brugge coach Hayen.
“We knew in advance that the match would turn out like that and we could not put together any attacks. But I’m not going to blame my players. They all put their heads down and everyone did his part.”
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Brugge were ahead after three minutes through teenager Chemsdine Talbi and he added a second midway through the half before Ferran Jutgla made it 3-0. “It doesn’t surprise me. We have so much quality,” Hayen added.
“If you play football with courage and confidence, you can get chances. So I didn’t have to pinch myself.”
Brugge will meet either Aston Villa or Lille in the last 16.
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