BRUGES, Belgium, Feb 18 : Club Brugge’s Christos Tzolis tucked away a late equaliser to secure a dramatic 3-3 draw with Atletico Madrid in their Champions League playoff first leg on Wednesday as the Belgian side avoided defeat after an agonising own goal appeared to have cost them.
Tzolis slammed home an angled shot in the 89th minute to level the tie although the goal was initially ruled out for offside but then confirmed after a VAR check.
Brugge fought back from a 2-0 halftime deficit to equalise but then looked to have thrown it away when Joel Ordonez turned the ball into his own net in the 79th minute.
Yet they head into next Tuesday’s return leg in Madrid with the scores level at the end of an exciting encounter in rainy conditions.
Julian Alvarez tucked away an eighth-minute penalty and Ademola Lookman added a second in stoppage time at the end of the first half as Atletico took a comfortable lead into the break.
But Brugge fought back with Raphael Onyedika poking home in the 52nd minute and Nicolo Tresoldi finishing at the near post on the hour mark.
Brugge had given away a penalty early on after Joaquin Seys made an awkward jump to head clear but got it all wrong and the ball hit his hand. The penalty was confirmed after a VAR check and Alvarez hammered home the spot kick.
QUICK FIGHT BACK BY THE HOSTS AFTER HALFTIME
It was 2-0 on the stroke of halftime as Alvarez’s corner went all the way through to the back post where Lookman got ahead of his marker and touched it into the net.
Yet the home side fought back quickly at the start of the second half, pulling one back as Onyedika finished from close range after visiting goalkeeper Jan Oblak saved from Tresoldi’s initial effort.
Onyedika then set up the equaliser with a pass out to the left that allowed Mamadou Diakhon to jink his way into a position to hit a firm cross that Tresoldi snapped up.
But the wind was taken out of the home side’s sails with 11 minutes remaining as Marcos Llorente played in a low ball from the right and, under pressure from Alexander Sorloth, Ordonez turned the ball into his own net.
However, Tzolis’ low left-footed strike from Onyedika’s cross put the home fans in a jubilant mood and left the tie in the balance.
(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing by Toby Davis)
