Club Brugge vs Atalanta: Prediction, Preview & Betting Tips

This game pits the side who finished at the top end of the play-off rankings, travelling to face the side who finished just inside the top 24, and we believe that the momentum will fall in the way of the much-fancied visitors.

Club Brugge’s home record will make things difficult for the visitors, as Club Brugge are unbeaten at home in their last ten matches. Goals tend to be a custom in matches involving the hosts, with both teams scoring in four of the last five matches for Club Brugge.

For Atalanta, they were ultimately unlucky not to qualify for the top eight, having obtained four wins and only one loss in the eight league phase games. The title challengers from Italy have not lost away from home in this competition and will fancy themselves against Club Brugge.

We are going for a 3-1 win for Atalanta. The attacking options Gian Piero Gasperini has at his disposal with Charles De Ketelaere and Mateo Retegui should be enough for the first-leg victory.

Club Brugge 1-3 Atalanta

The Champions League is back this week, with the first leg of the play-off set to get underway. Club Brugge take on an Atalanta side who have performed well in domestic and European competition this season.

Date: 12/02/2025
Location: Jan Breydel Stadium, Bruges.
Kick-Off: 5.45 pm

Club Brugge scraped into the top 24 phase of the UEFA Champions League, following their final game defeat to Manchester City (3-1) and results elsewhere enabling the Belgian outfit to be two games away from a potential round of 16 clash. The hosts are regular participants in this competition, having qualified for the Champions League in three of their previous five season campaigns, reaching the quarter-final stage in 2022/23, where Benfica defeated them.

This season, Club Brugge have picked up notable wins in this competition against the likes of Aston Villa (1-0), Sturm Graz (0-1) and Sporting CP (2-1). Their league form has curtailed in recent months, with the side losing their coveted top spot to Genk, in which Club Brugge sits six points behind the league leaders.

Atalanta’s sudden rise in the last few years is due to Gian Piero Gasperini's management. The Italian manager has elevated Atalanta into serious title contenders in Italy, even winning European silverware with their UEFA Europa League triumph. The visitors were unfortunate to miss out on the top eight of the Champions League standings, narrowly missing out to Aston Villa by a single point.

Their domestic title charge, sees Gasperini’s side five points behind league leaders Napoli and one point behind current champions Inter Milan in second place. Atalanta have played a game less than Inter Milan (with the latter due to play Fiorentina on Monday.)

The game will be shown live on TNT Sports 3.

Predicted Club Brugge Eleven: Mignolet, Sabbe, Spileers, Mechele, De Cuyper, Vetlesen, Onyedika, Tzolis, Vanaken, Vermant, Nilsson.

Predicted Atalanta Eleven: Patricio, Posch, Hien, Djimisti, Cuadrado, Ederson, de Roon, Zappacosta, Charles De Ketelaere, Samardzic, Retegui.

The two sides have not met in this competition, so it will be difficult to gauge who would have the momentum based on any recent meetings between the two teams. Goals tend to be a custom in matches involving the hosts, with both teams scoring in four of the last five matches for Club Brugge. Over 2.5 goals have been scored in five of the last seven involving Atalanta.

Club Brugge are coming into this game in rather disappointing form, with only one win from their previous five matches in all competitions. In their most recent game, Gustav Nilsson was the only scorer in a 1-0 win against OH Leuven. In this run of five matches, Club Brugge has suffered two defeats to Royal Antwerp (2-1) and Manchester City (3-1) - whilst also drawing with KRC Genk (1-1).

The home side have impressive home form coming into this game, with no losses in their previous ten matches and three wins from their previous five games at the Jay Breydel Stadium. Club Brugge have picked up two wins from their last three home games in this competition against Sporting CP (2-1) and Aston Villa (1-0).

Atalanta have lost only once in their previous six matches in all competitions, suffering the defeat to Bologna (0-1) in the Coppa Italia. Atalanta’s most recent game was a 5-0 demolition of Verona, to which Mateo Retegui moved his league goals tally to 20 for the season, with four goals on display away from home.

Gian Piero Gasperini’s side are unbeaten away from home in this competition, with three wins and a draw to their name. Atalanta recorded three consecutive victories against Shakhtar Donetsk (0-3), VfB Stuttgart (0-2) and BSC Young Boys (1-6).

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