Although they struggled in the first half, the second half was different... Lee Han-beom's UCL debut "helped regain control," and his rating even surpassed that of his partner

*This content was translated by AI.

They struggled in the first half but did not collapse. Korean national team defender Lee Han-beom (Club Brugge) showed a second-half comeback in his first-ever UEFA Champions League (UCL) group stage match.

Club Brugge (Belgium) lost 2-3 to Aston Villa (England) in their 2026–2027 UCL League Phase Matchday 1 home game at Jan Breydel Stadium in Bruges, Belgium, on the 9th (Korea time).

Lee Han-beom, who left Midtjylland (Denmark) this summer to join Brugge, was tasked with central defense alongside Brandon Mechele in a 4-2-3-1 formation. He started the match and played all 90 minutes without being substituted, though he could not end his UCL debut with a victory.

The start was difficult. Brugge conceded an early goal to opposing midfielder John McGinn in the 11th minute of the first half. They equalized through Hugo Vetlesen's goal in the 19th minute, but then conceded again to Emiliano Buendía in the 22nd minute. By the 43rd minute, they had also allowed an additional goal from Nicolas Jackson, ending the first half trailing 1-3.

Lee Han-beom also faced difficulties in the first half. Particularly during the team's third goal concession, goalkeeper Yann Sommer made a fatal judgment error, and the entire defensive line struggled to maintain smooth coordination.

However, Brugge changed their approach in the second half. Without conceding any further goals, they launched a comeback, narrowing the gap to one goal with Nicolo Trevisan's penalty kick goal in the 16th minute of the second half.

Lee Han-beom also improved his performance alongside his team. In the 38th minute of the second half, he showcased skilled individual ability to evade pressure from the opposing attack within the penalty box.

Local Belgian media also positively evaluated Lee Han-beom's second-half performance.

Belgian football specialist outlet Voetbal Premier noted after the match in their player ratings that "Lee Han-beom needed some time to adapt to Aston Villa's fast tempo."

They added, "Like Mechele, Lee Han-beom, who joined this summer, had a difficult first half but improved his performance alongside the team in the second half," and "In the second half, he helped Brugge regain control of the game." This assessment highlighted not only the struggles in the first half but also the subsequent comeback.

On another Belgian outlet, Voetbalkrant's match statistics page, Lee Han-beom was rated 6.7 points, slightly higher than Mechele's 6.6 points who played central defense alongside him.

In terms of individual statistics, Lee Han-beom stood out for his aerial duels and passing accuracy. According to football statistics specialist site FotMob, Lee won all four of his aerial duels. He also secured the advantage in three out of five ground duels. In total, he won seven out of nine combined duels on both ground and air.

He recorded 114 ball touches. Out of 100 passes, 94 were successfully connected to teammates, resulting in a 94% success rate. He also completed four out of seven long passes. Despite handling many passes, he maintained high accuracy.

Defensively, he recorded six clearances, two interceptions, and one tackle. All six clearances were headers. He made four ball recoveries, and FotMob assigned him a rating of 6.6 points.

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*This content was translated by AI.