Brugge

Brugge had the lead three times against Barcelona and had a fourth goal chalked off, but ended up sharing the points.

Spanish giants Barcelona needed to come from behind three times to earn a 3-3 draw at Club Brugge in the Champions League, with teenage winger Lamine Yamal back to his best for Hansi Flick’s side to help them earn a point in a gripping clash in Belgium.

Barca’s defence was shredded on multiple occasions on Wednesday by the hosts as Brugge winger Carlos Forbs struck twice and set one up for Nicolo Tresoldi.

Ferran Torres, Yamal and a Christos Tzolis own goal saved Barcelona from what would have been a humiliating defeat, even though they have several players out injured.

Barcelona have been in shaky form in recent weeks, including a Clasico defeat by rivals Real Madrid in La Liga.

The hosts took an early lead at the Jan Breydel Stadium through Tresoldi, who was set up by the electric Forbs.

With Forbs rampaging in behind Barcelona’s high defensive line, Brugge set an early blueprint for how they could consistently hurt the Catalans.

Flick’s side hit back quickly through Torres, who produced a clever finish after Fermin Lopez played him in.

Midfielder Lopez struck the woodwork before Forbs netted Brugge’s second in a relentless battle between two sides determined to attack.

The Portuguese winger played a one-two with Tzolis to burst into space behind Barca’s defence once more before finishing with aplomb past Wojciech Szczesny.

Barca defender Jules Kounde crashed a shot against the bar at the other end as last year’s semifinalists sought a leveller.

Yamal, who was once again his side’s key player after some recent flat displays, created a fine chance for Torres to score before the break, but the striker nudged the ball past goalkeeper Nordin Jackers and wide.

Szczesny saved well from Joaquin Seys at the near post as Brugge continued to attack in the second half, showing no intention of trying to protect their lead.

Eric Garcia almost scored from long range but became the third Barca player to hit the frame of the goal, as his effort slapped against the crossbar.

Barcelona eventually pulled level with a brilliant goal, as Yamal combined with Lopez superbly to break through.

Lopez backheeled the ball into the teenager’s path, and Yamal flicked it past Jackers and into the bottom corner.

Forbs wasted a fine chance to put his team ahead again, but given another chance minutes later, he took it with a stylish finish.

Hans Vanaken played him through on goal, and he delicately dinked it past Szczesny for his second and Brugge’s third.

Forbs was awarded a penalty when he went down after a collision with Barca’s Alejandro Balde in the box, but it was cancelled after a VAR review showed he had actually bumped into the Spaniard.

Jackers produced a superb save to tip away a Yamal effort bound for the top corner, but could do nothing about Barca’s equaliser, which arrived in a similar fashion.

Yamal’s curling effort from the right deflected off Tzolis’s head and beat the goalkeeper.

Brugges thought they had won it in stoppage time when veteran goalkeeper Szczesny tried to turn in his area but lost the ball as Romeo Vermant slid in on him.

Vermant rolled the ball into the empty net, but the goal was disallowed after a VAR review after the Belgian forward was ruled to have fouled the relieved Szczesny.

Elsewhere in the Champions League on Wednesday, Erling Haaland scored against his former club as his Manchester City cruised to a 4-1 win over Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday

Galatasaray striker Victor Osimhen scored a second-half hat-trick to ensure a comfortable 3-0 away win over hapless Ajax.

Bayer Leverkusen, meanwhile, defeated Benfica 1-0 to bounce back from a 7-2 defeat to title holders Paris Saint-Germain in the previous matchday two weeks ago.

Runners-up Inter Milan made it four wins in as many games with a 2-1 triumph against Kairat Almty. Inter, Arsenal and leaders Bayern Munich are the only teams that have won all of their Champions League games so far this season.

Meanwhile, Newcastle defeated Athletic Bilbao 2-0 and Atalanta claimed a narrow 1-0 win at Olympique Marseille.

The 2025-26 Champions League has just begun and the two Belgium teams in the competition have already made their mark.

On Tuesday, Union Saint-Gilloise enjoyed a dream Champions League debut as they stunned PSV Eindhoven with a 3-1 away win.

A youthful Club Brugge side then grabbed a commanding 4-1 victory over Monaco on Thursday – scoring three goals in the space of 10 first-half minutes to set them on their way.

The two Belgian sides have had recent resurgences.

Club Brugge have raced up Uefa’s club coefficient rankings over the past five seasons – going from 44th to 20th.

Union have made an even bigger jump, rising 38 places to 45th as they have reaped the benefits of a 2018 takeover by Brighton chairman Tony Bloom.

As recently as four years ago, Union were playing in the Belgian second tier.

They then narrowly missed out on the Pro League title for three years running, but last term they won the trophy for the first time in 90 years to guarantee Champions League football.

Club Brugge, meanwhile, have proved they are not to be underestimated on Europe’s biggest stage.

Last season they beat both Aston Villa and Sporting, and drew against Juventus and Celtic in the league phase before their campaign came to an end when they fell to Villa in the last 16.

And the club – European Cup runners-up in 1978 – came agonisingly close to reaching the Europa Conference League final in 2024 when they were narrowly beaten by Fiorentina in the semis.

Already this season, Club Brugge have beaten Red Bull Salzburg and thrashed Rangers 9-1 over two qualifying legs to reach the Champions League proper.

Their success has helped Belgian football, moving the association up to eighth in Europe in Uefa’s co-efficient rankings after dropping to 13th just a couple of seasons ago.

Over the past 10 seasons, six Belgian clubs have reached the knockout rounds of a European competition on at least one occasion – the same as their neighbours the Netherlands.