JAN BREYDELSTADION — Welcome back to earth, Aston Villa. The dream Champions League start is over, and for Tyrone Mings this will be a night he won’t soon forget.
“This mistake is not going to repeat itself again in my life,” Unai Emery said, and surely he is right.
Making his debut in this competition, Mings was penalised in the second half against Club Brugge for picking the ball up in his own box, having thought Emiliano Martinez was yet to take the goal-kick.
Only, his goalkeeper had, at least according to Tobias Stieler, the referee dishing out a harsh but fair lesson to Mings that was backed by VAR.
Hans Vanaken converted the resulting penalty, and this – the first Champions League goal Villa had conceded 322 minutes into their campaign – turned out to be the winner for Club Brugge, whose fans bounced to techno long after the full-time whistle sounded.
“It’s very strange,” Emery added, regarding the penalty that had already given him a headache before the thumping music started. “But I think it’s only happened one time in my life: tonight. You have to forget it quickly.”
And while it may have been bizarre it was no more than Club Brugge deserved, the Champions League regulars – who beat Atletico Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen here two years ago – putting an end to the newbies’ 100 per cent start.
This bump in the road therefore gives Villa a – perhaps necessary – reality check. Never mind the three Champions League wins that had them top heading into this week, more pressingly it has now been three straight defeats in all competitions, leaving Emery with much to ponder.
After losing to Tottenham in the Premier League and Crystal Palace in the Carabao Cup, this was a European step back for Villa, who had seemingly evolved from their Conference League iteration last season.
Back then, they were unable to win away at Olympiakos, Lille, Ajax, Zrinjski Mostar or Legia Warsaw, but showed with a 3-0 win in September at Young Boys that their trips in the Champions League could prove more fruitful.
Not this time, though, and beyond Mings’ mistake this defeat was born from a back four that had never played together, on account mainly from Mings making just his second start of the season and Ian Maatsen being a summer arrival.
Together with Diego Carlos and Ezri Konsa this back, and daringly high, line had a busy night, conceding 13 shots overall.
That all came after Villa enjoyed more of the ball early on. Crucially, though, they never looked capable of upping the tempo further, lacking a cutting edge that soon helped Club Brugge grow in confidence and enjoy the better of the first-half chances.
Once more Villa had Martinez to thank, the goalkeeper having already made 16 saves to keep three Champions League clean sheets prior to this match.
This time, he denied Christos Tzolis with a smart stop seconds after Ferran Jutgla hit the the post, and then saved from Ardon Jashari after Mings cleared Casper Nielsen’s header off the line.
Villa meanwhile had just the one shot on target in the first half, ex-Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet saving easily enough from John McGinn, who arguably should have done better with a header that went over earlier on.
Having lost their grip on the match, Villa needed the interval, but Emery’s subsequent refusal to make any half-time substitutions was an indication he had told his starting XI to sort out the mess they had sunk into.
That didn’t exactly go to plan, however, with Villa’s first Champions League goal conceded certainly a collector’s item after Mings’ error in judgement, captain Vanaken scoring the spot-kick when going down the middle.
Mings’ Champions League debut ended after 66 minutes, while Villa never went on to trouble the hosts despite Jhon Duran’s introduction, failing to record another shot on target.
It led to Villa walking away from a Champions League game empty-handed for the first time – or the first time since 1983 for the purists – and puts the first blot on their league phase campaign.
Nine points at the halfway stage still puts Villa virtually into the knockout round play-offs, but there is work to be done to qualify directly for the round of 16 and avoid two European matches in February.
Opta’s supercomputer reckons 16 points will be enough for the top eight, and that 15 might do it too, meaning Villa still need at least two wins. Going by last night, though, and with Juventus and RB Leipzig next, that is certainly no given.
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