Just six minutes in, Club Brugge’s Carlos Forbs was able to beat Barca’s high line and set up Nicolo Tresoldi for an easy tap-in to shock the visitors.
That sparked the Catalans into life with Ferran Torres guiding a right-footed effort past Nordin Jackers two minutes later.
The goal settled Barcelona down, and their incessant pressure saw chances quickly follow.
Incredibly, from a Barca corner, two long balls upfield saw Forbs streaking away from non-existent defenders and bending a left-foot shot past Wojciech Szczęsny for a second Club Brugge goal.
Jules Kounde’s spectacular hit cannoned back off the bar as the game approached the half-hour mark, whilst an industrious Marcus Rashford had Jackers at full stretch as Barça again looked the more likely to score as the match developed.
To Brugge’s credit, their play was neat and tidy without being spectacular, and aside from a glaring miss from Torres in the final minute of the half, they held firm until Anthony Taylor blew the half-time whistle.
A fast start from the hosts after the break saw Joaquin Seys played in behind, though his left-footed effort was batted away by Szczesny. Lamine Yamal then spurned an unbelievable chance for an equaliser, firing straight at Jackers with only the keeper to beat.
Eric Garcia’s stunning drive from fully 30 yards smashed against the woodwork, and almost immediately afterwards, Lamine Yamal carved open the home defence to finish with the outside of his left foot.
Forbs somehow missed the target a few seconds after the restart, but Barça clearly hadn’t learned their lesson, as the same player raced past a static defence and dinked a delicate effort past Szczesny’s outstretched palm.
The Portuguese number nine then appeared to have won a penalty until a VAR check rescued the Catalans.
However, a famous victory would apparently fall by the wayside with 13 minutes to play, when Lamine Yamal’s attempted cross was headed into the Brugge net by their top scorer, Christos Tzolis.
The Greek striker’s OG was a painful moment by any measure, but worse was to come, as Romeo Vermant appeared to have won it in stoppage time for the hosts, only for VAR to contentiously adjudge that he had tripped Szczesny before netting.
The result extends Club Brugge’s five-match home unbeaten run in the competition, and stopped Barça from winning their opening two away games in the UCL for the first time since 2020/21.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Carlos Forbs (Club Brugge)