4 stats from Atlético’s crushing defeat to Club Brugge

Atlético Madrid fell to their first defeat against Belgian opposition since 1992, dropping to bottom of Group B of the Champions League in the process with a 2-0 defeat to Club Brugge.

Here are four stats that help tell the story of the game.

November 13th, 2021 - The last time Antoine Griezmann took a penalty

In case you couldn’t tell from the way he rocked the crossbar, this was Antoine Griezmann’s first penalty kick taken in 11 months. He scored that time, albeit in an 8-0 win for France over Kazakhstan.

This was the first time Griezmann missed a penalty in a match situation — that’s to say, not in a shoot-out — and his team would go on to lose said match. Tuesday was only the second time a goal from his penalty could have changed the overall game outcome.

Another strange stat for you: 43% of all penalties Griezmann has missed at club level have come in the month of October. It was in fact on this same very day, October 4th 2015, when he missed from 12 yards against Real Madrid in a derby at the Calderón that ended 1-1.

2.24 - Atlético’s xG, compared to 1.18 for Club Brugge

Yet, Brugge scored two goals while Atleti failed to register any goals at all. That’s the only stat that really counts for anything.

Photo by ANP via Getty Images

This comes down to the quality of the chances the two teams had. The Champions League’s average xG per shot this season is 0.11. On Tuesday night, Atleti averaged almost exactly that — 0.114.

The difference comes in the chances afforded to Brugge, who had an xG per shot of 0.168.

Of Atleti’s 20 attempts on goal, half came from outside the box, while the best chance from open play had an xG of just 0.17, coming off João Félix’s boot late in injury time.

Such low-quality chances in high volumes are not the solution for an Atleti team unable to break down their Belgian rivals.

28 - Nahuel Molina’s number of passes into the opposition half

One of the few positive bright sparks was the Argentinian full-back, who has kicked on and impressed after his great display against Sevilla at the weekend.

In Brugge, only Antoine Griezmann attempted more passes into the Belgian champions’ half, and Molina’s total was level with Koke. But 51% of all Molina’s passes were sent toward the opposition half. That reflected his progression of the ball and his desire to move it forward to advance Atleti into the final third.

Photo by Matthieu Mirville/DeFodi Images via Getty Images

He did this more effectively than Yannick Carrasco on the left flank, as the fiery winger registered only 14 passes in the opposition half.

2017 - The last time Atleti had three points or less after three Champions League group games

The last time Atlético failed to escape a Champions League group was in 2017/18, when the team ended the group stage with seven points, including one win and four draws.

Already this season, Atleti have lost twice in Group B with three games still to play.

In Roma and Chelsea, the Rojiblancos faced tougher tests relative to Bayer Leverkusen or Club Brugge. Yet this version of Atleti are on track for another humiliating step down in competition that will either see them knocked down to the Europa League at best, or eliminated entirely at worst.

The positive in 2017 was that it did lead to the Europa League title in 2018, but that will be of little consolation to many Colchoneros after defeat in Belgium.