Spanish Super Sub

Aston Villa 3-0 Club Brugge (UEFA Champions League Round of 16)

You can't help but love the game. On a Tuesday night you could be watching sixth tier football with 400 fans in the freezing cold. 24 hours later it's the Champions League with 40,000 and fireworks and that anthem, the roar that goes with it.

I really enjoy the thud of the ball you get with grassroots but we all love football for nights like this. Aston Villa, kings of Europe in 1982 are over-excelling upon their long awaited return to the big-time, they have a 3-1 first leg lead over Club Brugge who were once finalists in 1978 losing 1-0 at Wembley to Liverpool, who last night themselves got knocked out of this year's competition despite being favourites, despite topping the unchartered Swiss model group stages at largely a canter. It really is anybody's year, the winner of this tie will play PSG.

Villa are finding things hard this season whilst juggling UCL commitments as league form has been often inconsistent, they are still in the FA Cup and have added to their squad in January to give them more depth, more experience when it comes to competing in multiple competition at the highest level and it seems to be rubbing off.

Brugge are second in the Belgian Pro League having slipped in form of late, they beat Cercle Brugge in the derby at the weekend but know tonight will be difficult to bridge a two goal deficit. I wonder if they've already given the tie to Villa and will turn up in the know that domestically their concentration now lies?

I'm off out for 4pm, it's only an hour to Birmingham but traffic is a nightmare cross country at rush hour, it takes two hours after trudging along the M42 and M6 which is pretty lucky as I've found a spot on Litchfield Road where it's free after 7pm or an hour no return before that, pulling up at five past six I get to beat the system along with some other smart drivers doing the same thing.

The Venue

The walk is still a good ten or fifteen to Villa Park which is a notoriously bad stadium for parking with horrendous congestion near it, the walk through a council estate not the prettiest in Europe, but as the stadium appears under the A38 flyover you get a real feeling of size and stature, impressive from the outside lit up in the dark as I head down the Witton Lane.

I've been a couple of times recently so I now know where to get my tickets, heading for the glass doors of the North Stand before a quiet corner entrance in the Doug Ellis Stand takes me up in a dirty old trade lift to the second level. It's there you suddenly find yourself in the away end and walking through a load of Belgians trying to find their seats before heading up the gantry at row Z.

I'm met by a scout who I know through a Whatsapp group but it's the first time I've seen him in the flesh, a Derby County fan, a fireman, he's a good lad and we have a nice long chat which steals some time ahead of the game, I hardly notice the players who've been warming up down below, make their way back in, before Villa fans sing the theme tune to Boon and release a huge Tifo from the roof of the Holte End which says 'Prepared' the club motto which has long been associated with their 'Lion' badge.

The view up here is like no other I've experienced in football, sat along from TV commentators Darren Fletcher and Ally McCoist, it's panoramic, high up, so high you get an almost birds-eye perspective of shape and formation of both teams, everybody down below is miniature as the two sets of players appear before the roar of that famous spine tingling Champions League anthem.

The Game

Villa don't know whether to stick or twist. The first half starts with Brugge having the ball, lots of it too, as they slowly, methodically, dominate possession without doing too much with it. Villa are comfortable in what looks defensively like a 4-5-1 but when they get possession back, they quickly lose it. Two up from the first leg they don't want to over-commit, they don't want to give anything away unnecessarily, which in some ways plays in to the hands of Brugge, but suddenly that all changes in the blink of an eye.

A long ball is punted up field for the rapid Marcus Rashford to chase on to, he's the only player in the Brugge half, and he's wrong side of defender Sabbe who by now is in all sorts of mess, he bundles Rashford over twenty yards out from goal with just the keeper to beat, an inevitable red card is shown.

You feel that would allow Villa to come out the traps, take some risks, but they don't, deciding to sit in and defend the ten men of their visitors, by half time hardly anything else has happens and with the tie pretty much over, you expect not much more to for the remainder either.

The Score

But again with a blink of an eye it all changes, Unai Emery, a tactical mastermind, a Manager who I think is probably only bettered in the Premier League by Pep Guardiola, a man who knows European football and how to win matches on nights like this, he brings on Leon Bailey and (more importantly) Marco Asensio after half time, the Spaniard, in particular, makes an immediately huge difference.

His off ball running is impossible to pick up, his intelligence a level above anyone else on the pitch, he's a World Class footballer and I didn't really know this until tonight.

Ten men Brugge can't live with Asensio who makes all the difference, suddenly Rashford has a footballer on his wavelength to combine with and Villa are alive around the opposition box. Bailey prods in from the right and Asensio is there, to open the score on 50.

It should be two, the Spaniard super sub is sent through one on one with more spectacular movement but cracks a post, by now Ordonez, who's been gutsy at centre half, has seen enough, he's gone down, not wanting to run after this energy-pumped electric Spaniard, Brugge now reduced to nine men whilst Ordonez receives treatment, concede again, Rogers doing well to find Maatsen in space who pokes home via a deflection from close range.

On 61 with Ordonez now subbed off Asensio grabs a second, Rashford playing his part, he looks like a rejuvenated, more confident, happier Marcus Rashford, he's playing his way in this new look Villa attack and looks back to his younger, hungrier days of United and England youth, it's great to see as the last 30 minutes are played with swagger and style, by now Youri Tielemans is pulling the strings, this side that Emery has built is really going places with so many footballers at high levels.

The Stars

Backed by the world's best goalkeeper who had very little to do, it seems Villa now have almost two players for every position, Mings and Konsa at centre half were outstanding, but they could have still won had that been Torres and Bogarde for example. Cash at right back is a solid staple by now, he was replaced late on by Disasi, Ian Maatsen brilliant going forward with pace from left back, he kept out Lucas Digne who has 50 French caps and boasts Barcelona amongst his playing portfolio.

In midfield the workmanlike John McGinn will go down as an absolute legend of this football club, Tielemans and Kamara beside him offer more legs, more grit, more protection on that defence, Rogers, Rashford, Watkins, some of the best footballers on the continent in forward positions, then there's the subs. Leon Bailey full of trickery, Jacob Ramsey with real quality and panache, and Asensio, who is a steal on loan, ask any Aston Villa fan would they take back Jhon Duran if it meant Asensio would go, I think all would say no.

For Brugge, I must admit I expected so much more, and left feeling very disappointed with them, Onyedika in midfield who I was excited to see, didn't dominate with those long legs as I would have hoped, Jutgla in attack who I was excited to see, formerly of Barcelona, was largely innocuous, even Christos Tzolis, a young player I really rate, a flying winger from Greece, looked a class below Villa's forward players, whilst Hans Vanaken, the big powerful skipper and man who everything goes through in that number ten role, he worked hard, an absolute credit to Club Brugge often digging in to defensive responsibility, even he had an off night with some wayward passing.

That said, I do like Joel Ordonez, just 20 years old, not the tallest but quick, a good defender from Ecuador who looks like he'll have a top career at centre half, Chemsdine Talbi on the right side of attack also looked to be a footballer with promise, just 19 years old I'll be keeping an eye from now, on how the Moroccan develops.

The Verdict

Aston Villa now have Paris St Germain in the Quarter Final's of the UEFA Champions League, already they have gone further in the competition than both Manchester City and Liverpool, and it wouldn't surprise me if they caused Luis Enrique's men serious problems, enough to inflict a two leg defeat? I think they can progress, although the Parisians will be a level above and more, than Club Brugge.

Villa's form reads one defeat in nine and they have won four on the bounce, this run coinciding with the astute signings of Asensio and Rashford, I think they can really kick on now to do something special, the top four in the Premier League is still not out of reach, the FA Cup a real possibility, a special season could be on the cards again.

For Club Brugge, unfortunately with limitations on finances in Belgian football they know their place in Europe, not quite elite, but next level down, they now get to focus on the title race and running down Genk who are nine points clear at the top of the Pro League, another bridge too far perhaps? Win or lose they'll still be forever mixing with the best and developing world class talent, just like they have always done since those lofty days of the seventies.

The Teams

Aston Villa: Emiliano Martinez, Matt Cash (Axel Disasi 73), Ezri Konsa, Tyrone Mings (Pau Torres 66), Ian Maatsen, Boubacar Kamara (Leon Bailey 46), Youri Tielemans, Morgan Rogers (Jacob Ramsey 66), John McGinn, Marcus Rashford, Ollie Watkins (Marco Asensio 46).

Club Brugge: Simon Mignolet, Kyriani Sabbe, Joel Ordonez (Zaid Romero 58), Brandon Mechele, Maxim De Cuyper, Raphael Onyedika, Ardon Jashari (Casper Nielsen 58), Chemsdine Talbi (Michal Skoras 58), Hans Vanaken. Christos Tzolis (Hugo Siquet 66), Ferran Jutgla (Gustaf Nilsson 58).

8:00pm Kick Off. Wednesday 12th March 2025, Villa Park, Birmingham (att 42,461).