Club Brugge face Monaco at the Jan Breydel Stadium on Wednesday, Oct. 24. Here’s all the info you need to watch.
Going into the game, the headlines have inevitably been dominated by Thierry Henry, whose debut Champions League match as a manager this will be. After serving as an assistant to Roberto Martinez with the Belgian national side for a couple of years, the Monaco job is the 41-year-old’s first stint as a head coach. He lost his opening game in charge against Strasbourg in Ligue 1 on Saturday, when parts of the French media felt that Henry had been a little naive in his team selection. Despite their poor results, though, Monaco’s underlying numbers have been pretty good this season, which means that a revival always seemed likely regardless of who took over from Leonardo Jardim.
Monaco were a tad unfortunate not to emerge with a point from their opening match against Atletico Madrid but were then well beaten in Dortmund on match-day two. Both the club’s senior goalkeepers – Danijel Subasic and Diego Benaglio – are currently injured, and stand-in Seydou Sy was responsible for a poor error on Saturday, so Henry certainly isn’t being handed the easiest of starts.
Henry’s involvement with the Belgium national side won’t have given him any insights into tonight’s opponents, as there were no Club Brugge players in the Belgian World Cup squad – the only Belgium-based player included was Anderlecht’s Leander Dendoncker, who has since moved on to Wolves in the Premier League. Club Brugge’s highly regarded Croatian manager Ivan Leko is actually a year younger than Henry. He previously spent three-and-a-half seasons at the club as a player, winning a Belgian Cup in the process. His side were unlucky to lose their opening game to Dortmund, when Christian Pulisic deflected an attempted clearance into the net for a freak goal late in the match. Brugge faded badly in the second game away against Atletico Madrid, but then the Wanda Metropolitano is one of the toughest stadiums to visit in world football.
The Champions League match between Club Brugge and Monaco will be broadcast live on Bleacher Report. Live streaming is available on B/R Live, which you can access with your cable or satellite subscriptions, either online or through the Bleacher Report app.
Date: Wednesday, Oct. 24
Start time: 12:55 p.m. ET
Location: Bruges, Belgium
Stadium: Jan Breydel Stadium
TV Info: Bleacher Report
Live Stream: B/R Live | Fubo.TV. Sign up for a free seven-day trial here
Both teams are yet to earn a point in this season’s Champions League, so hopefully their need for a win will produce an attacking game.