Six trips, five defeats and a solitary goal
Atletico Madrid travel to face Club Brugge on Wednesday for the first leg of their Champions League play-off tie. Beyond their recent erratic form—which has seen them shine in the Copa del Rey but endure a three-game winless streak in the league—Diego Simeone’s side must also confront a persistent curse that haunts them in Belgium.
To date, Atletico Madrid have played six competitive fixtures on Belgian soil, returning with a dismal record of one draw and five defeats. According to BeSoccer Pro data, Belgium remains the only country on the continent where Atleti have featured five or more times without ever tasting victory.
Atletico’s Belgian struggles began in January 1965 during the Fairs Cup Round of 16, where Liege secured a ۱-۰ victory. That narrow scoreline was replicated by KSV Waregem in the same competition’s last 32 in October 1968.
A decade later, Atletico faced Club Brugge for the first of what would become four visits to the Jan Breydel Stadium. In that Champions League quarter-final clash, the hosts triumphed ۲-۰. Supporters had to wait until 1992 to witness Los Colchoneros’ first goal in Belgium, netted by Paolo Futre, though his strike couldn’t prevent a ۲-۱ defeat in the quarter-finals of the European Cup Winners’ Cup.
It wasn’t until December 2018 that the Spanish side finally put a point on the board, as Club Brugge and Atletico played out a goalless draw in the Champions League group stage. Their most recent encounter in 2022 saw a return to old habits, with the Belgians cruising to a ۲-۰ victory. However, their record back in Madrid presents a stark contrast.
On home turf, Los Rojiblancos have remained invincible against Belgian opposition, recording successive wins over Liege (2-0), Waregem (2-1), and Club Brugge (3-2, 3-2, and 3-1). In 2022, Wednesday’s opponents managed to snatch the only draw for a Belgian team in the Spanish capital, a ۰-۰ stalemate, while Union Saint-Gilloise were the latest to fall, succumbing to a ۳-۱ defeat this year.
