Super Eagles winger Ademola Lookman provided an assist as Atletico Madrid secured a convincing 4-1 victory over Raphael Onyedika’s Club Brugge in the second leg of their UEFA Champions League knockout phase playoff clash on Tuesday, sealing a 7-4 aggregate victory to book their place in the round of 16.
The tie had been finely poised after a thrilling 3-3 draw in Belgium, leaving everything to play for in Spain. Backed by their home supporters, Atletico were able to claim the win, sealing their spot in the next round.
Despite being surprisingly left out of the starting lineup, Lookman made his impact felt, coming on and immediately providing an assist to seal the win. Onyedika was suspended for the second leg after receiving his third yellow card of the competition in the first leg.
Atletico began the game on the front foot and felt they should have had a penalty in the 13th minute when Simeone appeared to have been tripped by goalkeeper Mignolet. However, the VAR decided there was nothing in the incident as play resumed.
The hosts eventually struck first in the 23rd minute as a long ball from Oblak found its way to Alexander Sorloth who did well to hold off Club Brugge defender Mechele before hitting a brilliant shot into the back of the net, making it 1-0 on the night and 4-3 on aggregate.
After going behind, the visitors started to exert some pressure on the Atletico backline and their increased intensity paid off in the 36th minute as Mechele flicked on Tzolis corner to Joel Ordonez, who nodded home from close range, making it 1-1 and 4-4 on aggregate.
Few minutes into the second half, Atletico regained their lead through a sublime right-footed volley on the edge of the box by Johnny Cardoso, making it 2-1 and 5-4 on aggregate. In response, Club Brugge made a couple of substitutions as they pushed for another equaliser.
In the 70th minute, Lookman came on for Alex Baena while Nahuel Molina was introduced for Koke. The Nigerian International made an instant impact, assisting Sorloth’s second goal of the night six minutes later to make the score line 3-1 on the night and 6-4 on aggregate.
Sorloth found the net once again in the 87th minute to make it 4-1, sealing his hat-trick and ending Club Brugge’s tournament despite an impressive performance in the playoffs. Atletico Madrid will learn their round of 16 opponents on Friday as they continue their Champions League journey.
