Champions League Performance Insights: The details that made the difference for Atleti
Friday, February 27, 2026
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Alexander Sørloth's hat-trick made the headlines, but UEFA's Technical Observers saw more to admire in Atlético de Madrid's UEFA Champions League knockout phase play-off second leg against Club Brugge.
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The headlines at the Metropolitano this week were written about Atlético de Madrid striker Alexander Sørloth, scoring hero of the UEFA Champions League knockout phase play-off victory against Club Brugge.
Indeed, the Norwegian's hat-trick in Tuesday's 4-1 second-leg win has already been put under the microscope by UEFA's game insights unit. Yet there was much else to consider beside Sørloth's goals and in the following analysis, we will explore Club Brugge's brave approach in the first half together with Sørloth's impact as Atleti's target striker and, finally, the importance of corners across both legs of a tie which finished 7-4 overall in favour of the Spanish side.
Visitors' man-to-man pressure
Club Brugge may have exited the competition but they played their part in an exciting tie, first in the 3-3 first-leg draw and again in Madrid where they would have led 2-1 at half-time but for a fine 38th-minute save by Jan Oblak from Hugo Vetlesen's close-range header.
The most striking aspect of Club Brugge's game was their bravery in pressing in numbers and with admirable intensity high up the pitch – and we see several examples of this in the first video above.
From a 4-3-3 shape, the visitors went man for man across the pitch and pleased coach Ivan Leko with their first-half approach. "This was football, this was with energy, with intensity, and here it's not easy – this team won 4-0 two weeks ago against Barcelona – and we were brave, my boys," he said.
"Their coach came up with a game-plan with a lot of pressure, playing in our half," noted Leko's opposite number Diego Simeone, whose frustrations with Atleti's struggles to build play early on are evidenced in his reaction to left-back Matteo Ruggeri losing the ball at the end of the final clip. What came next was a small intervention in the form of an instruction for Ruggeri to look longer, which has echoes of Bayern's approach against PSV Eindhoven last month and brings us to the second topic of Sørloth's hold-up play.
Sørloth's leading role
In our initial post-match analysis of Tuesday's contest, the focus was on Sørloth's goals and his role as target man. To elaborate on the latter aspect, the second video above offers two examples of his pivotal role leading the line.
The 30-year-old was highly effective with his hold-up play and clip one offers an example, showing him collect on halfway and drive forward down the flank – with Atleti now going longer as per Simeone's instruction. In the second clip, we see the Rojiblancos exploit the space behind the Club Brugge press, having initially looked to Sørloth as their 'out' ball.
UEFA Technical Observer Aitor Karanka explained: "Club Brugge had moments of defending Atlético man vs man and Sørloth, by moving to the flanks, created space for others inside. When a player grows into a game as Sørloth did, it also means the other team are more worried about him and that means more space for other players. When he went to the wing, he created space for Julián [Alvarez]. Other times, he dropped a bit to receive and hold the ball up and let Atleti come out from deep."
The impact of corners
The third theme that stood out for UEFA's game insights unit was corners, which were the source of three of the goals in the second leg. With two of the first-leg goals having also come from corners – a third too if we include the circumstances of the penalty award for Alvarez's spot-kick goal – this is a significant talking point, given it amounts to more than 50% of the 11 goals across the tie.
From a coaching viewpoint, the manner of Tuesday's set-play goals underlined in particular the importance of what happens after the initial contact at a corner.
Clip one shows Club Brugge's Joel Ordoñez converting at the back post following a near-post flick-on by Brandon Mechele – Ordoñez's anticipation and determination to connect bringing their reward from the second contact.
Next, we see Raphael Onyedika's goal from the first leg and the key point here is the reaction to the second ball. Players who had initially attacked the first post are now readjusting in order to be ready to connect if the ball comes to them from the first contact. What matters is to be alive to the opportunity.
The third clip shows the short-corner routine that eventually brought Johnny Cardoso's goal on Tuesday. As Karanka noted, there was audible frustration among some home fans when Atleti moved the ball back, away from goal, at the start of this routine yet a short corner has a disruptive effect on defenders and their organisation; how do they react now to the second phase?
Implications for the training pitch
Here UEFA Technical Observer Rui Faria shares his thoughts on the importance of second contact/ball/phase scenarios at corners.
"In these three clips, we can see clear examples of how important and decisive the organisation of offensive corners can be," Faria said. "It's far more than simply placing players inside the box and waiting for an opportunity to score from a good delivery.
"A corner is a moment that pauses the game, allowing time to position players and prepare a clear dynamic defined in training," he added.
"Effective strategies enable teams to overload specific zones and deliberately prepare for second phases. It's not only about winning the first contact; it’s about being ready to adapt quickly to the different possibilities that emerge from the corner situation."
Citing the example of Cardoso's goal, from a second phase, he explained that the initial decision to go short "disrupts Club Brugge's defensive organisation" and elaborated: "There is visible uncertainty among the markers, followed by a cross aimed at exploiting the team's strongest aerial player. All this movement also creates space outside the box, which Atleti exploit very effectively by positioning players to anticipate and attack a potential second ball in that zone."
Rui Faria's targets when planning corners
• Exploit defensive weaknesses
• Destabilise the opposition's structure
• Create uncertainty among markers
• Isolate your best aerial players
• Attack second balls
A Liga and UEFA Champions League winner with Real Madrid between two spells at Athletic Club, defender Aitor Karanka became Spain's Under-16 coach after hanging up his boots, and has since occupied the hot seat at Middlesbrough, Nottingham Forest, Birmingham, Granada and Maccabi Tel-Aviv.
Rui Faria worked as assistant to José Mourinho, winning the UEFA Cup and UEFA Champions League at Porto, multiple domestic titles with Chelsea and Real Madrid, the 2009/10 Champions League with Inter and then the 2016/17 Europa League with Manchester United.
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