Preview: Atalanta BC vs Club Brugge - prediction, team news, lineups

Meeting for the second consecutive Champions League campaign, Atalanta BC and Club Brugge will face off again on Tuesday evening.

Seven months on from their two-legged clash in last season's knockout playoffs - which Brugge won by three goals - the pair reconvene for a league game in Bergamo.

Match preview

Atalanta's 'reward' for finishing ninth in last season's league table was a playoff against Club Brugge, but they meekly succumbed to a 5-2 aggregate defeat and a once-promising campaign never really recovered.

Having only lost three of 10 Champions League matches last term - two to Brugge, one to Real Madrid - the Italian side started this year's league phase with another chastening defeat.

Handed the toughest of tasks on matchday one, La Dea had to visit reigning champions Paris Saint-Germain, and they duly suffered an emphatic 4-0 loss - the club's joint-worst away result in Europe.

Under former boss Gian Piero Gasperini and now his successor Ivan Juric, Atalanta have kept only one clean sheet in their last seven UEFA fixtures, conceding goals at a rate of more than two per game.

Juric also won just one of four Europa League matches during last term's ill-fated spell at Roma - Gasperini's next destination - so he will be keen to prove himself capable of coaching at the top level.

So far, his team are undefeated in domestic action; this season's only loss came at the skilled hands of PSG.

Extending their impressive league record away to Juventus, the Bergamaschi secured a 1-1 draw in Turin at the weekend, when Kamaldeen Sulemana scored a superb opening goal but captain Marten de Roon was later sent off.

With their Serie A season beginning to gather pace, Atalanta will now aim to kickstart their continental campaign.

While Tuesday's hosts memorably won the Europa League in 2024, Club Brugge have yet to taste such glory, finishing runners-up in the UEFA Cup and European Cup during their 1970s heyday.

Still, the Belgian side did beat La Dea in both legs of February's playoff, and they will now try to replicate their shock 3-1 win in Bergamo.

That result ended a 15-match winless streak against Italian opposition, though Aston Villa then knocked out Nicky Hayen's men in the last 16.

Brugge began their latest Champions League campaign in qualifying, winning all four games to ease past Salzburg and Rangers, before producing another eye-catching victory on the opening matchday.

They raced into a three-goal lead against Monaco, eventually winning 4-1 at Jan Breydelstadion, with new star Nicolo Tresoldi and long-serving talisman Hans Vanaken both getting their names on the scoresheet.

In all, the Blauw-Zwart have lost just three of their last 16 European group or league fixtures - winning nine - and they are becoming a team to be feared.

However, they currently trail six points behind reigning champions Union Saint-Gilloise in Belgium's Pro League, having followed a frenzied 5-5 draw with Westerlo by beating 10-man Standard Liege through a last-gasp winner.

Atalanta BC Champions League form:

Atalanta BC form (all competitions):

D D W L W D

Club Brugge Champions League form:

Club Brugge form (all competitions):

D L W W D W

Team News

Atalanta's injury list is still extensive - with Giorgio Scalvini, Isak Hien, Nicola Zalewski, Gianluca Scamacca, Sead Kolasinac and Mitchel Bakker all unavailable - but Ederson was back on the bench against Juve.

Furthermore, Ademola Lookman has been reintegrated after finally ending his stand-off with the club's senior management, so he can vie with Sulemana and Lazar Samardzic to support lone striker Nikola Krstovic.

Charles De Ketelaere scored his first European goal for Club Brugge almost five years ago, but he will miss out on facing his former club.

Meanwhile, his Belgium teammate Vanaken notched two more goal involvements for Brugge against Monaco, moving on to a career tally of 14 in the Champions League.

Italy-born Tresoldi has opened the scoring in their past two European fixtures, having netted four in his last four overall; he also hit a hat-trick for Germany Under-21s at the start of September.

Two key men will be missing, though, as a hamstring injury has sidelined Nigeria midfielder Raphael Onyedika, while veteran goalkeeper Simon Mignolet is ruled out by a groin problem.

Atalanta BC possible starting lineup:

Carnesecchi; Kossounou, Djimsiti, Ahanor; Bellanova, De Roon, Musah, Zappacosta; Samardzic, Sulemana; Krstovic

Club Brugge possible starting lineup:

Jackers; Sabbe, Ordonez, Mechele, Meijer; Stankovic, Sandra; Forbs, Vanaken, Tzolis; Tresoldi