By Crystal Ugoeze
Ademola Lookman made a decisive impact after coming off the bench, providing the assist that set up Alexander Sørloth’s second goal as Atlético Madrid booked their place in the UEFA Champions League last 16 with a 4-1 win over Club Brugge on Tuesday at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano Stadium.
Sørloth had already opened the scoring in the first half after a long ball from Jan Oblak, with the former Liverpool goalkeeper registering his first assist in 529 appearances for the club. Club Brugge briefly equalized through Joel Ordóñez before Johnny Cardoso restored Atlético’s lead early in the second half with his first goal for the club.
The introduction of Lookman proved pivotal. The England international combined with Antoine Griezmann to slice through Brugge’s defense, crossing for Sørloth, who made no mistake from close range to score his second. He completed his hat-trick in the 87th minute after Matteo Ruggeri’s cross, becoming only the second Atlético player to score a Champions League hat-trick, following Mario Mandžukić in 2014.
Sørloth’s treble took him to 15 goals for the season, making him Atlético’s top scorer ahead of Griezmann and Julián Álvarez. With this win, Diego Simeone’s side will now face a Premier League opponent in the round of 16, set to meet either Liverpool or Tottenham in Friday’s draw.
Atlético’s 7-4 aggregate victory marked a hard-fought success, highlighting their resilience in Europe’s elite competition and proving once again their knack for advancing in knockout ties when avoiding defeat away from home in the first leg.