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Match Preview & Prediction
Belgian champions Club Brugge look to come into this season’s Champions League after giving a very good account of themselves in 2021-22 during group stage play and could be set to once again potentially play spoiler in Group B along with tomorrow’s opponent in Bayer Leverkusen as well as Atlétic Madrid and FC Porto.
Domestic champions in five of the last seven years, Brugge has yet to make the next step on the continent but could look at their matchup against Leverkusen as a potential avenue to start group play with a three-point haul as Blauw-Zwart welcome Die Werkself to the historic canal city.
Brugge will be without influential Dutch international winger Noa Lang as well as Canadian wide man Tajon Buchanan while Charles De Ketelaere is no longer plying his trade in his hometown after securing a move to AC Milan this summer, but former Brugge player and current club boss Carl Hoefkens can still bank on his high-scoring side to potentially get at a Leverkusen outfit that has already surrendered nine goals in just five Bundesliga matches including two of four losses that saw them ship three goals a piece.
By contrast, Swiss headmaster Gerardo Seoane has struggled to get his men firing on all cylinders this campaign with Leverkusen just bagging one win on the domestic front on the back of German wunderkind Florian Wirtz still missing due to a long-term injury suffered last season. Moussa Diaby, Patrick Schick, and Karim Demirbay headline a still very capable forward line on paper, but Leverkusen’s inability to finish off chances while being far too leaky at the back means that an organized Brugge attack – even without Lang – could give them some cause for concern tomorrow.
Prediction: 2-2 Draw