Champions League qualifying exit in Belgium | OneFootball

Knocked out 2-4 on aggregate by Club Brugge

Our memorable run of six successive years in the UEFA Champions League is over. After our Red Bulls raced into a 2-0 lead at Club Brugge to head in front in the tie, we ended up losing 2-3 on the night and 2-4 on aggregate. We are therefore our of Champions League qualifying, but are heading into the UEFA Europa League.

Match summary

An entertaining second leg was set up as both sides began on the attack and tried to probe their opponents. We tried to test Club Brugge with long passes but found few gaps in their backline – while the hosts provided plenty of threat on the break. Alex Schlager stood out with two strong saves (11' and 15').

The game was then turned on its head by a delightful Maurits Kjaergaard free-kick, which sailed into the box and was met by the leaping Jacob Rasmussen, whose powerful header came off the inside of the post and in (18')! Our opening goal ruined the atmosphere at the Jan Breydel stadium a little with the calm only returning by the time we took a drinks break.

The hosts continued to press as the first half progressed, and we struggled to clear the danger. Only poor finishing from Club Brugge and some superb Schlager reflex saves (34'/38') kept us ahead on the night. We then got the chance to attack shortly before the break and used it clinically. Dorgeles Nene played a perfect ball through the defence and Stevie Lainer sent it over to the far post, where Edmund Baidoo (42') took it on the volley and made it 2-0. Our Red Bulls may have been flattered by the half-time score but were delighted to be ahead.

Club Brugge were up against it now, and Blauw-Zwart pushed from the restart. Our defence held firm until the 61st minute, when we failed to close down and Seys was able to extend a leg to smash his side back into the game. The momentum was now in the Belgian outfit's favour...

The game quietened down, which suited us, but just when we hoped to land a killer blow, a bad mistake cost us. A misplaced pass from Rasmussen found its way to Forbs, who got into space and made it 2-2 (83').

We were unable to muster enough of a late attacking salvo, with Club Brugge pushing for a winner - and getting it. Vanaken capped a quick break in the fourth minute of stoppage time for a sour final note.

That is that as far as our Champions League campaign is concerned. Now we need to regain our focus ahead of our ADMIRAL Bundesliga clash against Hartberg on Saturday and our league stage in the UEFA Europa League from September!

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Thomas Letsch

Alexander Schlager

Match data

Line-ups & substitutions

Club Brugge: Mignolet – Mechele, Spileers, Seys – Meijer (46' Sabbe), Onyedika (90+5' Romero), Reis (68' Stankovic), Vanaken ©, Forbs (88' Siquet) – Tzolis, Vermant (68' Tresoldi)

FC Red Bull Salzburg: Schlager – Terzic, Rasmussen, Gadou, Lainer – Diabate (90+1' Schuster), Bidstrup © – Kjaergaard (82' Alajbegovic), Nene – Baidoo (64' Ratkov), Vertessen (82' Daghim)

Goals: Seys (61'), Borges (83'), Vanaken (90+4') - Kjaergaard (18'), Baidoo (42') Attendance: TBC Referee: Irfan Peljto (BIH) Yellow cards: 81' Spileers

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