Lens' Champions League Clean Sheet Woes Continue In Brugge Defeat
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| Brugge dispatch Lens in bruges |
Club Brugge secured a sixth successive victory across all competitions and made it back-to-back Champions League wins with a dominant 3-0 triumph over Lens at the Jan Breydel Stadium.
Club Brugge weather early Lens storm to secure sixth straight win in All Competitions...
Club Brugge made it back-to-back wins in the Champions League after dispatching Lens.
Club Brugge racked up a sixth successive victory in all competitions as they weathered an early storm to beat Lens 3-0 in the UEFA Champions League.
After a quiet start, the game burst into life after 10 minutes as Lens' Thorgan Hazard saw an effort from outside the box saved, before failing to climb high enough to head home a cross from the right.
Those chances sandwiched a curling Franjo Ivanovic effort that had the far post rattling, while the first real opening at the other end fell to Jan Virgili, whose rasping drive had the sting taken out of it by an excellent block.
It was the French side who remained on top though, and Ivanovic fluffed his lines inside the area. His miskick fell fortuitously at the feet of Junior Kadile, but his low strike was expertly cleared off the line.
The 23-year-old came even closer to his first Champions League goal minutes later when he powerfully nodded down Mamadou Sangare's ball, only to be denied by an outstanding stop from Simon Mignolet down to his left.
That save proved crucial as Ivan Leko's men took the lead against the run of play in first-half stoppage time, with Hans Vanaken sweeping home from close range after Robin Risser could only push Nicolo Tresoldi's header into his path.
That extended the Blood and Gold's run without a clean sheet in this competition to 16 games, and things got worse after the break. Their hosts made it 2-0 within five minutes of the restart, when Joaquin Seys saw his initial effort well saved, only to pounce on the rebound and lift it into the back of the net.
The response was almost immediate, though, with Adrien Thomasson twice missing the target either side of Malang Sarr being denied by Mignolet.
Lens were never going to recover from there, and they soon found themselves three goals behind after giving the ball away cheaply in midfield. Their opponents counter-attacked at lightning speed, with Carlos Forbs teed up by Hugo Vetlesen to slot home.
Ivan Leko's men were now sensing blood, knowing a fourth would equal their biggest-ever win at this stage of the Champions League. It was not forthcoming, though, as Vanaken could not convert with a free header and Mamadou Diakhon was left frustrated when team-mate Hugo Vetlesen deflected his shot wide.
Brugge, who have now lost only one of their last six meetings with French opposition, have picked up six points from their opening three league-phase games. Lens, on the other hand, failed to bounce back from their defeat to Sporting on matchday two.
Three points for Club Brugge 🔵⚫️ #UCL https://t.co/cHZceTCq4S
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) October 21, 2026
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