Club Brugge vs Atalanta facts

Club Brugge and Atalanta meet in Belgium in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League knockout phase play-offs.

This is the clubs' first meeting – the only tie in the round not to have been played before – and only Atalanta's third fixture against a team from Belgium. Club Brugge, meanwhile, are taking on an Italian side for the third time this season alone.

Atalanta finished ninth in the league phase on 15 points after a 2-2 draw at Barcelona on Matchday 8; Club Brugge went down 3-1 at Manchester City in their last fixture to end in 24th position, the league phase's finals qualifying spot, on 11 points.

Form guide

Club Brugge

Record vs Italian clubs: W5 D7 L12 F18 A28
Home record vs Italian clubs: W3 D4 L5

Club Brugge have played two Italian teams in this season's Champions League, losing 3-1 at AC Milan on Matchday 3 before a 0-0 Matchday 7 draw at home to Juventus.

That made it 15 matches without a win against Italian opponents (D6 L9), since a 1-0 victory in Milan in the 2003/04 group stage.

The Belgian side's 2023/24 European campaign was ended by Italian opponents, Fiorentina winning 4-3 on aggregate in the UEFA Europa Conference League semi-finals (2-3 a, 1-1 h).

Club Brugge are now nine home matches without a victory against Serie A visitors (D4 L5). They had won their first three games, although none since a 2-0 extra-time defeat of Juventus in the 1977/78 European Cup semi-final second leg.

That gave Club Brugge a 2-1 aggregate victory, meaning they had won their first three two-legged knockout tie against Italian opposition; last season's loss to Fiorentina was their third defeat in the three subsequent ties.

This is Club Brugge's 11th campaign in the Champions League proper – one short of Anderlecht's Belgian record.

The most recent came in 2022/23, the Belgian side claiming 11 points to finish second in Group B behind Porto and reach the knockout stages for the first time before losing to Benfica in the last 16 (0-2 h, 1-5 a).

Victories against Aston Villa on Matchday 4 (1-0) and Sporting CP (2-1) this season have made it five wins in Club Brugge's last 24 home matches in the Champions League proper (D7 L12).

European Cup runners-up to Liverpool in 1978, Club Brugge spent 2023/24 in the UEFA Europa Conference League, coming through three qualifying rounds and finishing first in their group before eventually losing to Fiorentina in the semi-finals.

The 0-3 Matchday 1 defeat by Borussia Dortmund is Club Brugge's only loss in 12 home European games (W8 D3).

Champions of Belgium for the 19th time in 2023/24 – their fourth title in five years – Club Brugge appointed Nicky Hayen as their permanent head coach in June. He had succeeded Ronny Deila on a temporary basis in March, leading the club to their league success.

Atalanta

Record vs Belgian clubs: W0 D0 L2 F2 A4
Away record vs Belgian clubs: W0 D0 L1

Atalanta's only previous games against a team from Belgium ended their interest in the 1987/88 European Cup Winners' Cup, Mechelen beating them 2-1 both home and away in the semi-finals.

Atalanta claimed only the club's second major silverware – and a first top-flight trophy since the 1962/63 Coppa Italia – in 2023/24, defeating Bayer Leverkusen 3-0 in the Europa League final in Dublin with Ademola Lookman scoring the first final hat-trick.

That means Atalanta are taking part in the Champions League proper for the fourth time – all since 2019 – in 2024/25.

La Dea's 3-0 win at Shakhtar Donetsk on Matchday 2 ended a four-game run without a victory in Champions League away games (D2 L2) having won five of their first seven matches (L2). They have since triumphed at Stuttgart (2-0) and Young Boys (6-1), the latter their biggest Champions League win, before a 2-2 draw at Barcelona on Matchday 8.

The Italian side have won four of their last 14 Champions League fixtures (D6 L4).

This is Atalanta's fourth knockout tie in the competition; they beat Valencia 8-4 on aggregate in the 2019/20 round of 16 (4-1 h, 4-3 a) before a 1-2 defeat by Paris Saint-Germain in a one-off quarter-final, and lost 1-4 over two legs to Real Madrid in the following season's round of 16.

The Bergamo club were fourth in Serie A last season, their fifth top-four finish in eight seasons.

Links and trivia

Born in Bruges, Charles De Ketelaere joined Club Brugge in 2008 aged seven and was also a ball kid for the first team. He made his senior debut aged 18 in September 2019 and went on to score 26 goals in 120 matches in all competitions, winning three league titles, before signing for Milan in 2022.

Odilon Kossounou made 55 appearances for Club Brugge between 2019 and 2021, winning two league titles.

Maxim De Cuyper was on target for Belgium and Mateo Retegui scored for Italy in a 2-2 UEFA Nations League draw on 10 October.

International team-mates:
Raphael Onyedika & Ademola Lookman (Nigeria)

Latest news

Club Brugge

Defeat at Manchester City on Matchday 8 ended Club Brugge's 20-match unbeaten run in all competitions (W15 D5), since the 3-1 loss at AC Milan on Matchday 3.

Club Brugge also lost their next game, 2-1 at Antwerp on 2 February, but were 1-0 victors at home to OH Leuven on Saturday.

Gustav Nilsson got the winner and has five goals in his last five league appearances.

Nicky Hayen's side lost two of their first three league games this season (D1) but defeat at Antwerp was only their second in the last 22 (W15 D5).

A 1-1 draw at Genk in the Belgian Cup semi-final second leg on 5 February completed a 3-2 aggregate victory.

The 0-0 Matchday 7 draw with Juventus is one of only two games in 35 in all competitions in which Club Brugge had failed to score; they have two or more goals in 11 of their last 15 league fixtures.

On 4 February Hans Vanaken won the Belgian Golden Shoe – for the country's best player – for the third time.

Hayen was named Belgium's coach of the year, with Simon Mignolet taking the goalkeeper's award.

Atalanta

Atalanta ended a run of three games without a win in all competitions (D2 L1) in style with a 5-0 victory at Verona on Saturday.

Mateo Retegui hit four and is Serie A's leading scorer with 20 goals.

Atalanta drew 1-1 at home to Torino on 1 February.

The Bergamo club have scored in 27 consecutive home Serie A games.

Three days later, however, Gian Piero Gasperini's men failed to score at home in the Coppa Italia as they lost 0-1 against Bologna in the quarter-finals.

New signings Daniel Maldini and Stefan Posch both made their Atalanta debuts as substitutes against Bologna.

Atalanta have won just three of their last 11 games across all competitions (D5 L3), scoring 12 goals in those three wins and seven in the other eight matches.

La Dea's 15-match unbeaten Serie A run (W11 D4) was ended by a 2-3 defeat at home to leaders Napoli on 18 January – their only league loss in 19 games.

Atalanta scored a club-record 126 goals in 2024.

Defender Odilon Kossounou suffered an adductor injury in a 0-0 draw at Udinese on 11 January and is expected to be sidelined for at least three months after surgery.

Gianluca Scamacca made his first appearance this season as a late substitute against Torino after recovering from a knee ligament injury but has since suffered a quadriceps problem.

Goalkeeper Marco Carnesecchi has missed the last three games with a thigh injury while Sead Kolašinac was replaced in the first half against Torino after picking up a similar problem and was absent at Verona.

Ademola Lookman has not played since 25 January due to a knee injury.