Real Madrid 2-2 Club Brugge
Real Madrid were was within five minutes of a stunning home defeat to Brugge tonight, until Casemiro scored a dramatic late leveller.
It’s a result which leaves Los Blancos at the foot of Champions League Group A on a single point, but it could have been a lot worse after a brace by Emmanuel Bonaventure Dennis gave the Belgians a 2-0 half-time lead.
Los Blancos have turned their form around since their disastrous opening to their Champions League campaign in Paris, climbing to the top of La Liga, but they came mighty close to another setback tonight.
Real Madrid should still qualify for the knockout stages and our SBOBET tips team will watch Zinedine Zidane’s side closely, but on this evidence, a tournament win looks doubtful.
Highlights of the game
Brugge warmed up with a 0-5 victory away to Mechelen, which put them top of the Belgium 1st Division, a point ahead of Standard Liege and with a game in hand. And they came to Madrid without fear, starting this game with a bang and going ahead in just the ninth minute.
Los Blancos top scorer Karim Benzema had already planted a header narrowly wide when the visitors struck. Percy Tau teed up Emmanuel Bonaventure, and he shot low and hard into the net. He looked for all the world to be offside, but after a VAR review the goal stood and the underdogs celebrated.
Take a look at the Champions League 2019 highlights make up your own mind!
Real fought back in search of a speedy equaliser. Eden Hazard crossed for Raphael Varane but his shot was charged down. Luka Modric also came close with a shot and Varane was off target when he met a Toni Kroos corner.
As the pressure increased, the Belgian defence got in a good block to stop Benzema when he met a Casemiro cross with a powerful header. Varane had another effort saved and then Brugge keeper Simon Mignolet made another stop from a long-range Casemiro shot.
Kroos came close again and Lucas Vazquez had two attempts thwarted; then the unbelievable happened when Brugge doubled their lead.
Brugge’s 20-year-old striker Kreppin Diatta, who had scored four goals in his last four games and has an electric turn of pace, turned provider in the 39th minute as the visitors stunned the hosts and the home crowd. He found Bonaventure in space, and this time the striker smashed the ball into the roof of the net.
ZZ responded to the first-half shock by swapping his keeper at the break, taking off Thibaut Courtois and bringing on Alphonse Areola. It wasn’t clear whether Courtois had taken a knock, but I’m sure the Real boss hoped his replacement wouldn’t be a big player in the second half.
Los Blancos came out on the attack again and began to stretch the Brugge stopper. Mignolet made a fine save to deny Eden Hazard in the bottom right corner, and then Casemiro had an effort saved.
Los Blancos’ pressure was eventually rewarded on 55 minutes when Sergio Ramos met a corner and headed low into the net. The Real skipper looked offside but, again, VAR didn’t intervene. That evened it up I guess!
The hosts piled on the pressure and Hazard came very close with a shot from outside the penalty area. Modric also let one fly, but it sailed just past the top right corner of Mignolet’s net.
As the clock ticked down, Brugge flew into the tackles to protect their lead. With 77 minutes on the clock, Lois Openda picked up a yellow card for a foul on Modric, and a minute later Ruud Vormer was booked for a nasty challenge on Hazard.
Brandon Mechele had a chance to give Brugge breathing space when he met a Vormer corner but his header flew past the right post. But that was Vormer’s last positive contribution as his evening took a turn for the worse.
He picked up his second yellow card for a foul on Vinicius Junior, and from the resulting dead-ball kick, Casemiro headed home to lift the roof off the Bernabeu!
Key statistics
Few pre-match Real Madrid vs Club Brugge betting tips will have dared to predict a two-goal lead for the underdogs at half-time.
With almost 70 per cent possession and a shot count of 12 to three, Los Blancos pretty much dominated the first half. But all of Brugge’s three shots were on target and two ended up in the net.
The shot count ended up a 27 to seven, and Los Blancos had 14 corners to Brugge’s one, but it took a late equaliser for Los Blancos to avoid three consecutive Champions League losses for the first time ever.
Even so, Brugge are now unbeaten in nine matches.
What’s next?
A 0-0 draw with Atletico was enough to see Los Blancos take their place at the top of La Liga and next they face Granada at the Bernabeu. The new boys have made an unbelievable start to the campaign and will be primed for this clash between the top two.
Meanwhile, Brugge are at home to KAA Gent in the Belgian First Division and that will be a good test; the visitors have taken 13 points from the last five and are in third place.
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