As expected, monopolized City, with 78% possession. But the Bruges double belt stood for half an hour. Mignolet barely had to deal with a ball.
With the peace in sight, Club could occasionally break out. Jashari was able to put Ederson to work for the first time. Two minutes later, Blauw-Zwart City put its back against the wall. A razor-sharp counter over Jutglá to Onyedika who suddenly put the 0-1 on the board. Unbelievable. Club was so virtually even in fifteenth place and was, by a 0-3 lead from PSG, almost certainly placed.
But soon after the break City came to the same level. Kovacic got a boulevard centrally to pull up and put the equalizer in the corner. The starting signal of a much more open second half.
Because Club also knew the positions in the other matches, it seemed like that, and there was more his own chance. Tzolis crashed on Ederson and a little later just wide.
Manchester City continued to put pressure and that resulted in the 2-1. Gvardiol persisted on the left, Ordoñez worked sincerely in his own goal.
The match remained open. Talbi popped on Ederson, Mechele had to bring salvation on the line. When Savinho made it 3-1 in fifteen minutes, City broke a sigh of relief and Club knew that it was qualified anyway.
With a small margin, but just in the top 24. And that was ultimately the goal. So goal achieves what is certainly clever. In the intermediate round, Club can look forward to a wonderful double duel against a team in places 9 to 16: Atalanta with CDK or again Dortmund.