The hosts had won the Belgian Pro League title last term, while Leverkusen secured a third-place finish in the 2021-22 Bundesliga standings, to earn a spot among Europe's elite.
Follow Us
Club Brugge will host Bayer Leverkusen in their opening group match of the 2022-23 Champions League campaign at the Jan Breydel Stadium on Wednesday night. Both sides had earned a direct spot among Europe’s elite. The hosts had won the Belgian Pro League title last term, while Leverkusen secured a third-place finish in the 2021-22 Bundesliga standings. The Belgian outfit are heading into the match on the back of a dominant 4-0 win over Cercle Brugge in a top-flight match last Saturday, while Leverkusen suffered a 3-2 defeat to SC Freiburg in a Bundesliga fixture on the same day.
#UCL calling…✨? #BayerinderChampionsLeague pic.twitter.com/wVynKROk46
— Bayer 04 Leverkusen (@bayer04_en) September 6, 2022
Club Brugge have made an impressive start to their title-defence, winning five of their opening seven league games, boasting a total of 16 points and sitting at the third spot, five points adrift of leaders Antwerp. In their recent outing against Cercle Brugge, Andreas Skov Olsen opened the scoring before Jean Marcelin’s own goal doubled the lead. And then, second half goals from Casper Nielsen and Roman Yaremchuk helped Club Brugge seal the win. It was the Farmers’ fourth successive win. Twelve goals were scored during that quartet of matches while conceding just two.
Leverkusen, on the other hand, haven’t made a great start to their domestic league season, recording just one win from their opening five games. The Eternal Bridesmaids are currently languishing at the 14th spot in the table with just three points. Their only victory so far came against Mainz (3-0) on August 27 courtesy of Exequiel Palacios’ opener and Jeremie Frimpong’s brace. Meanwhile in their last match against Freiburg, Kerem Demirbay and Patrick Schik netted for Leverkusen but the visitors netted thrice to secure the win.
Read more: Barcelona vs Viktoria Plzen: Champions League Live Stream, Schedule, Fixture and Probable Lineups
Brugge defender Clinton Mata picked up an injury in the previous game and may not be available for Wednesday’s game. Therefore Denis Odoi could drop into the back-three, with Raphael Onyedika coming into the midfield. Sowah is likely to partner Jutgla up front. As for Bayer Leverkusen, Diaby and Schik could form the attacking-duo with Frimpong and Sinkgraven occupying the flanks.
Club Brugge probable starting lineup: Mignolet, Odoi, Mechele, Sylla, Olsen, Nielsen, Onyedika, Vanaken, Meijer, Sowah, Jutgla
Bayer Leverkusen starting lineup: Hradecky, Kossounou, Tah, Tapsoba, Frimpong, Palacios, Andrich, Demirbay, Sinkgraven, Diaby, Schick
The Champions League match between Club Brugge and Bayer Leverkusen will take place at Jan Breydel stadium on Thursday at 12:30 am IST.
| Club Brugge vs Bayer Leverkusen | Key details |
| Date | September 7 (Belgium) |
| Venue | Jan Breydel stadium |
| Kickoff time in Belgium | 9:00 pm |
| Kickoff time in Germany | 9:00 pm |
For the football fans in India, the live telecast of the Champions League is available on the Sony Ten network. You can also live stream through SonyLIV App/ website. Besides, the supporters in Belgium can watch the match between Club Brugge and Bayer Leverkusen on Pickx + Sports 2, VTM 2, Club RTL. Meanwhile, those in Germany can catch the live action via DAZN, DAZN2
