BERGAMO, ITALY — Club Brugge teenager Chemsdine Talbi’s double helped his side to get a three-goal lead at Atalanta before they held off a second-half onslaught for a 3-1 victory in their Champions League playoff on Tuesday to reach the last 16 by 5-2 on aggregate.
Ferran Jutgla netted the visitors’ other goal as Brugge stunned the Italian side by taking a 3-0 halftime lead, but they had to fight a desperate rearguard action in the second period as the hosts tried to conjure up an unlikely comeback.
Ademola Lookman pulled back one goal for Atalanta but then had a penalty saved by veteran goalkeeper Simon Mignolet, who made several other important stops to stymie home hopes and see the Belgian side advance to the next round.
They will face either Lille or Aston Villa, with their opponents to be decided in Friday’s draw.
Brugge took a slender 2-1 lead from last week’s first leg to the Stadio di Bergamo but extended it within three minutes through Talbi.
Jutgla hooked the ball across goal to the 19-year-old, whose quick feet worked a shooting chance and he fired low into the bottom corner of the net from 15 meters.
The visitors doubled their advantage midway through the first half when Atalanta goalkeeper Marco Carnesecchi could only parry Christos Tzolis’ shot and Talbi fired in the rebound for his second goal.
Three minutes into stoppage time at the end of the first period, Brugge had a third goal from Jutgla’s rasping low shot after catching Atalanta on the counter-attack.
Seconds earlier, the home side had seen Davide Zappacosta’s shot pushed onto the Brugge post by the hand of Mignolet and then a follow-up save before a third effort was cleared off the line by Brandon Mechele.
Atalanta brought on Lookman, recently returned from injury, at the start of the second half in the hope that last season’s Europa League final hero could spark a comeback. — Reuters
