Atalanta were beaten 2-1 in Bruges, and if last season’s Europa League winners have every right to complain about the penalty for Brugge’s second goal, Nicky Hayen’s team had fought for every ball to get to that point.
Kyle Walker, already sounding like a team leader, spoke afterwards: “If we don’t score goals it’s because we have to attack better as a team, we have to attack and defend all together.” A trio of Christian Pulisic, Rafael Leao and João Félix behind Giménez has potential to be thrilling but also infuriating.
Brest’s Éric Roy, who has emerged as one of the coaches of the season, entered the world of Gallic existentialism when explaining his team’s defeat: “If I can’t fault my team much in terms of spirit and desire to do things, we lacked realism.
This season, the Dutch side’s home ground De Kuip has seen its best Champions League nights in decades and that trend continued as Milan, who included former Feyenoord hero Santiago Giménez in their lineup, were beaten 1-0.
Pascal Gross, beloved at Brighton, less productive in Westphalia, scored his first Dortmund goal on a night when Serhou Guirassy scored and supplied an assist, with Julian Brandt also setting up two goals.
