Club Brugge beat Bayer Leverkusen 1-0 in Champions League
Abakar Sylla scored as Club Brugge beat Bayer Leverkusen 1-0 in Wednesday’s Champions League opener.
Sylla’s header into a corner shortly before half-time gave the Belgian champions their first win in Group B, where Atlético Madrid had a very late 2-1 win over Porto in Spain.
Brugge has won the last 4 matches in the league, while Leverkusen has started badly in the Bundesliga with 4 defeats after 5 matches.
The home side got off to a better start, although Moussa Diaby had a shot from close range when his shot went wide of the post at Leverkusen.
It was the visitors’ best chance in the first half, before Sylla scored from an Andreas Skov Olsen corner in the 42nd minute. Leverkusen goalkeeper Lukáš Hrádecký looked like he could have saved Sylla from the near corner, but he couldn’t keep the ball and couldn’t stop it.
Leverkusen emerged with higher intentions after the break, as Patrik Schick’s two goals were ruled out for offside. Brugge fans celebrated VAR’s decision to rule out one of the goals as if their team had scored.
England striker Callum Hudson-Odoi made his first appearance for Leverkusen since his recent move to Chelsea.
The German team played their first match in Europe’s top league since December 2019.