Barcelona narrowly escaped defeat, snatching a 3-3 draw against Club Brugge of Belgium, in the match that brought the two teams together on Wednesday evening as part of the fourth round of the group stage of the Champions League, on the “Jan Breydel Stadium” pitch.
Barcelona’s goals were scored by: Ferran Torres, Lamine Yamal, and Kristos Tzolis “own goal” in the (8th, 61st, 77th) minutes, while Club Brugge’s goals were scored by: Carlos Forbes “two goals”, and Nicolo Tresoldi in the (6th, 17th, 63rd) minutes.
Barcelona was on the verge of suffering its second defeat in the tournament this season, were it not for the goal scored by a Club Brugge player by mistake in his own net, after he headed a cross from Lamine Yamal into the net.
With this draw, Barcelona’s score rose to 7 points, occupying eleventh place, after losing its fifth point in this round, as it had previously lost to defending champion Paris Saint-Germain, while Club Brugge raised its score to 4 points in twenty-second place.
Home side dominance
The home side started the match with strong pressure, and in the second minute, Tzolis launched the first real threat with a shot from the edge of the penalty area, but goalkeeper Chezni saved it easily.
The Belgian pressure resulted in an early goal, as in the sixth minute, Carlos Forbes sent an accurate ground cross after a quick run on the right side, reaching Nicolo Trezoldi, who placed it in the net, giving Brugge the lead, and after reviewing the video technology, the goal was counted.
But the Catalan response came quickly, as just one minute later, Lamine Yamal passed a wonderful through ball to Fermin Lopez, who played an accurate cross that Ferran Torres met with a direct shot into the net, restoring the tie for Barcelona in the eighth minute and igniting the match again.
The excitement continued non-stop, and Fermin almost scored the lead with a wonderful shot that hit the post in the tenth minute, then Rashford wasted another chance with a shot that went over the crossbar, before Kounde’s shot hit the crossbar again.
Despite Barcelona’s clear control, Club Brugge surprised its guest in the 17th minute with a quick counter-attack that started from a Barcelona corner kick, which Carlos Forbes finished with a powerful shot into the far corner to the right of Chezni, scoring the second goal and returning his team to the lead.
Barcelona tried to adjust the result before the end of the first half, but goalkeeper Jackers excelled in stopping several attempts, most notably a shot from Ferran Torres in the 44th minute, ending the first half with the Belgian team ahead.
Video technology saves the guests
At the beginning of the second half, Chezni saved Barcelona from a third goal that almost complicated matters for the Catalan team after a powerful shot from Saiss.
Lamine Yamal responded with a dangerous attempt that Jackers saved, and in the 61st minute, the young Spanish star returned to make the difference, after exchanging the ball intelligently with Fermin inside the area, before placing it in the net with a wonderful technical touch, equalizing the score (2-2).
But Brugge’s response came quickly again, as Vanaken sent an accurate through pass to Forbes, who was one-on-one with the goalkeeper and scored the third goal for his team and his second personally in the 63rd minute.
In the 70th minute, English referee Anthony Taylor awarded a penalty kick in favor of Forbes after a challenge from Baldi, before reversing his decision after returning to video technology.
Barcelona continued its attempts, and Lamine Yamal created danger in every attack with his magical touches and dangerous shots, until the 77th minute came when he sent a powerful cross that hit Tzolis and settled in Brugge’s net by mistake, giving the Spanish team the equalizer with the third goal.
Romeo Vermant succeeded in scoring the fourth goal for Club Brugge in the 91st minute, exploiting a naive mistake by Barcelona goalkeeper Chezni in controlling the ball, but referee Anthony Taylor canceled it after reviewing the video technology.
Injury nightmare haunts Barcelona
Barcelona is experiencing a state of anxiety and confusion, after the injuries turned into a nightmare haunting Flick and his technical staff since the beginning of the current season. The physical level has declined significantly, and injuries have increased in an unprecedented manner, which has made the team face a crisis that threatens its technical stability and balance in local and European championships.
According to the Spanish newspaper “AS”, Flick feels deeply concerned about the physical condition of his players, after the physical analysis data revealed a decline in indicators compared to last season, whether in maximum speed or in the ability to endure during matches. This decline has been reflected in the team’s performance, which seemed less intense in pressing and spreading.
The Catalan club’s management believes that this physical decline is one of the direct reasons behind the large number of injuries, which amounted to 13 different injuries in just 3 months.
