Preview: Club Brugge vs. Atletico Madrid - prediction, team news, lineups

In a group that promised to be tight as soon as it was drawn, this could be a defining week for all the teams involved in Group B.

Match preview

Carl Hoefkens's side are currently sitting third in the Belgian Pro League, five points off Antwerp who also have a game in hand.

Their league campaign has been disappointing but they come into this game on the back of a 3-0 win over Mechelen.

Goals from Ferran Jutgla, Eduard Sobol and Tajon Buchanan sealed a comfortable home win for Brugge.

Brugge have been more impressive in Europe and are two wins from two in the Champions League this season, where a 1-0 home victory over Bayer Leverkusen was followed by a remarkable 4-0 away victory at Porto.

It was the latter game that highlighted Brugge's exciting brand of football to perfection, and grabbing a second clean sheet also showed the balance they have within their team.

Atletico have made a solid start to their domestic season, picking up 13 points from seven games, losing only to Villarreal and fierce rivals Real Madrid.

Their most recent victory was an impressive 2-0 away win at Sevilla, where goals from Marcos Llorente and Alvaro Morata saw Simeone's side take all three points.

Simeone made a tactical change for that game, as the Argentine went with a back four and played Matheus Cunha instead of Joao Felix in attack.

Last time out in the Champions League, Atletico were beaten 2-0 at Bayer Leverkusen in a game where the Spanish side created few chances despite seeing more of the ball.

Late goals from Robert Andrich and Moussa Diaby sealed the win for the German side, leaving Atletico third in the table with three points from two games.

Club Brugge Champions League form:

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Club Brugge form (all competitions):

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Atletico Madrid Champions League form:

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Atletico Madrid form (all competitions):

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Team News

Both teams will be missing players for this crunch meeting in Group B, so it will be interesting to see which team adapts better.

Brugge will be missing long-term absentee Mats Rits, who is nearing a return following a cruciate ligament rupture last season.

Alongside this, Clinton Mata and Noa Lang will both miss out with ankle injuries.

Diego Simeone has a few injury concerns heading into this game, with defensive woes being of concern ahead of this fixture.

Defenders Stefan Savic and Sergio Reguilon are expected to miss out through injury, but both have been unavailable since August.

Otherwise, Atletico go into the game with a clean bill of health, but they will be without defender Felipe who continues a suspension from last season.

Club Brugge possible starting lineup:

Mignolet; Odoi, Mechele, Sylla, Meijer; Onyedika, Nielsen, Vanaken; Olsen, Sowah, Jutgla

Atletico Madrid possible starting lineup:

Oblak; Molina, Savic, Gimenez, Mandava, Hermoso; Llorente, De Paul, Saul; Morata, Felix

We say: Club Brugge 1-1 Atletico Madrid

Club Brugge look really strong in this year's competition but Atletico Madrid are always a threat when they need a result.

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