Atalanta knocked Liverpool out of the Europa League in humiliating fashion last season, but Simon Mignolet has returned the favour in the Champions League.
Liverpool had no answer to Atalanta as they suffered a 3-1 aggregate defeat in the quarter-finals of the Europa League, including a 3-0 defeat at Anfield.
The Italian side went on to lift the trophy after defeating Xabi Alonso’s unbeaten Bayer Leverkusen in the final, before finishing ninth in the Champions League‘s league phase this time out.
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But drawn against Club Brugge in the playoffs, Atalanta were knocked out on Tuesday night courtesy of an outstanding performance from Mignolet in the second leg.
Club Brugge had already won their home leg 2-1 but went on to seal a 3-1 victory at Stadio di Bergamo on an evening that saw Atalanta captain Rafael Toloi sent off for an embarrassing lash out at Maxim De Cuyper.
?? BIG 9.6 FotMob rated performance from Club Brugge's Simon Mignolet.
Nine saves made, including a Lookman penalty, and 4.32 xG faced in the Belgian side's impressive second leg win at Atalanta in their Champions League playoff. pic.twitter.com/ygaU3Elxli
— FotMob (@FotMob) February 18, 2025
Mignolet produced a heroic display that saw him make nine saves and concede only once despite facing shots worthy of 4.32 xGOT.
The former Liverpool goalkeeper therefore came away with a rate of 3.32 goals prevented, which is the most in a Champions League fixture in the last three seasons.
That included denying Ademola Lookman from the spot, diving the right way to deny the forward with the score on the night at 3-1.
Lookman’s miss, which came after he demanded to take the penalty over Atalanta’s regular takers, saw him labelled “one of the worst penalty takers I’ve ever seen” by his own manager.
“Lookman was not supposed to take that penalty, he is one of the worst penalty takers I’ve ever seen,” Gian Piero Gasperini said after the match, per Football Italia.
Simon Mignolet denies Ademola Lookman from the spot ?
Club Brugge preserve their three-goal aggregate lead!
? @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/5K96cTq7df
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) February 18, 2025
“He has a frankly terrible record even in training, he converts very few of them.
“Retegui and De Ketelaere were there, but Lookman in a moment of enthusiasm after scoring decided to take the ball and that was a gesture I did not appreciate at all.”
Victory means Club Brugge will face either Lille or Aston Villa in the last 16, while Liverpool wait to learn who will join Benfica among their two possible opponents as Paris Saint-Germain host Brest on Wednesday night.
With PSG already 3-0 up in the tie they are considered overwhelming favourites, with a draw on Friday morning to decide who Liverpool will face.
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