Young Boys 1-6 Atalanta: De Ketelaere steals the show

Charles De Ketelaere was the driving force for Atalanta in their commanding 6-1 win over Young Boys in the Champions League.

De Ketelaere scored twice and provided three assists as Atalanta – last season’s Europa League champions – moved into fourth place in the standings, two points behind leaders Inter.

Star of the show De Ketelaere teed up Mateo Retegui for a ninth-minute opener, though Silvere Ganvoula quickly responded for Young Boys.

It was the first goal conceded by the visitors in the competition this season, but the rest of the half was controlled by Atalanta.

De Ketelaere scored his first in the 28th minute when a corner was flicked to him, and he managed to squeeze in a low shot on the turn.

The Belgium international then set up Sead Kolasinac with a throughball from midfield, and the former Arsenal defender calmly slotted home.

De Ketelaere capped off a dominant first half with his third assist, setting up Retegui once more.

Atalanta’s fifth, and De Ketelaere’s second, arrived 11 minutes after the restart as he drilled in a low shot from the edge of the box, with some help from a deflection, and Lazar Samardzic made it six in stoppage time.

5 – Charles De Ketelaere became against Young Boys the first player ever to be involved in 5+ goals in a #UCL game for an Italian team. Implacable.#YoungBoysAtalanta pic.twitter.com/hzmtialUIj

— OptaPaolo (@OptaPaolo) November 26, 2024

Data Debrief: King Charles

De Ketelaere became the eighth player to be directly involved in five goals in a single Champions League match.

He is the first Belgian to do so and the first for an Italian side.

De Ketelaere is just the third player to assist three goals in the first half of a Champions League game, after Ryan Giggs for Manchester United against Roma in April 2007 and Carlos Martins for Benfica against Lyon in November 2010.

This was, unsurprisingly, Atalanta’s biggest margin of victory in a major European match, while the 6-1 defeat was Young Boys’ joint-biggest home defeat in such competitions, along with their 5-0 loss to Hamburger SV in November 1960.