Inter conceded four in a 3-4 defeat to Club Brugge KV, and the biggest numbers belonged to the visitors' front line. Nicolò Tresoldi scored three times, while Carlos Forbs supplied two assists and won the penalty for the opener. Even a huge night from Lautaro Martínez could not cover for the way Inter kept getting opened up.

The match, Inter vs Club Brugge KV, turned on repeated damage in the same areas. Tresoldi converted the penalty in the 30th minute for the opening goal, and he completed his hat-trick in the 74th. By then, Inter were chasing a game they had already let slip too many times.

Tresoldi and Forbs decided the game

Tresoldi's hat-trick will take the headline, and fairly so, but Forbs was just as important to the shape of the game. He created two goals and also won the penalty that brought the first one. Inter were not beaten by one isolated moment of finishing. They were beaten by a pair of attackers who kept dragging mistakes and space out of them.

Forbs reflected that himself after the game. Quoted in Portuguese by A Bola, in comments translated from Portuguese, he said: "Carlos Forbs made two assists and won a penalty in a crazy game. Nicolò Tresoldi scored a ‘hat trick’"

It is a strange quote in the third person, but the facts behind it are straightforward enough. Forbs contributed to three decisive actions without scoring, which fits the flow of the game far better than reducing it to Tresoldi alone.

Tresoldi finished with three goals and the highest rating on the pitch at 9.3. That is usually the clean sign of a striker taking over a game. Yet the wider issue for Inter was that Club Brugge did not need a huge volume of different scorers or creators. The same combination kept arriving and Inter never really solved it.

Lautaro's night was wasted

Lautaro was excellent. He scored Inter's first goal in the 44th minute, produced two key passes and finished with a 9.25 rating in defeat. On another night, that is the line of a match-winner.

Instead, it became the line of a captain trying to drag his side back into a game that had already become too loose. Inter did score three, with E. Bonny adding the third in stoppage time at 90+3', but they spent too much of the night reacting.

That also needs a small correction in how the defeat is read. Yann Sommer made seven saves, so this was not a case of the goalkeeper letting the side down. Inter's defending in front of him is where the collapse sits, especially against two players who kept reaching decisive positions.

Cristian Chivu will be frustrated by that part more than anything else. A team can survive conceding space once or twice in a chaotic European game. It usually cannot survive letting the same threats keep returning all evening.

Inter's Champions League problem is now hard to ignore

The immediate fact is simple: Inter have 0 points after two Champions League games. That alone makes this more than a wild one-off.

There is also the historical angle, and it carries more weight than a lot of early group-stage noise usually does. BBC reported this as Inter's fourth consecutive Champions League defeat, the first time that has happened in the club's history. Other reporting around the game focused more narrowly on the 0-point start after two matches, which is the safer way to frame the current table position. Either way, Inter have left themselves in a bad spot very early.

What makes the defeat look worse is that Inter still had enough individual quality on show to get something from it. Lautaro produced. Sommer resisted with seven saves. They still conceded four to a side driven by Tresoldi's finishing and Forbs' direct influence.

Inter can shrug off one chaotic night in Europe. Two games in, they cannot shrug off the table: 0 points, and a 3-4 home defeat to Club Brugge on 13 October.

FAQ

Why did Inter lose to Club Brugge despite Lautaro Martínez playing so well?

Inter still lost because Club Brugge had the two most decisive attackers on the night. Nicolò Tresoldi scored three times, including a 30th-minute penalty and his third in the 74th minute. Carlos Forbs added two assists and won the penalty for the opener. Lautaro Martínez scored and created two chances, but Inter were punished too often at the other end.

How important was Carlos Forbs in Club Brugge's win over Inter?

Forbs was central to the result. He set up two goals and also won the penalty that led to Tresoldi's opener, so he had a hand in three decisive moments in Club Brugge's 4-3 win. In a game that swung repeatedly, his direct running and final ball kept causing Inter problems.

Is Inter's Champions League form becoming a serious problem?

Yes, the concern is real. Inter are on 0 points after two Champions League games, and BBC reported that this was their fourth consecutive defeat in the competition, the first time that has happened in the club's history. Even with Lautaro producing and Yann Sommer making seven saves, Inter still conceded four.

Written by Daniel Hartley with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 4 outlets. How we work →