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Club - Aston Villa: Club facts

UEFA Champions League

It's Champions League time again in Bruges, as Match day 4 sets Club up against Aston Villa. Get in the know here. 

The fixture

After two consecutive away games, the UEFA Champions League returns to Jan Breydel with a game against English greats Aston Villa FC. Including prelims, this will be the 100th game for Club on the highest European stage (30W 25D 44L)

Here are some European stats:

  • 365 games for Club in Europe, and 91 for Aston Villa
  • 128 times a Belgian team has faced English opposition
  • 100 games in the UEFA Champions League for Club, 66 in the group stages
  • 11 UCL campaigns for Club, the first for Aston Villa

The two teams will be facing each other for the first time in history, making Aston Villa the 135th unique opponent in Club history, the second hailing from Birmingham (after Birmingham City FC). Aston Villa will be the 12th English team Club is set to meet with. 

So far, Club earned 6 wins, 3 draws and 4 defeats against English teams.

It has been  29 years since Club last beat a Premier League team: in 1995, the Europacup II Quarter Finals against Chelsea resulted in a 1-0 win for Club. Two draws and four defeats followed in more recent times.

Four players featured at both teams:

  • Boško Balaban joined Aston Villa between 2001 and 2004. In 9 games, he was unable to make his way to the scoreline. In the Winter of 2003-04, Club picked him up. He became one of the Club's golden boys, scoring 59 in 118 games, winning the title (2005) and the Cup (2007).
  • Academy player Björn Engels won the championship at Club in 2016 and in 2018. Stints at Olympiacos Piraeus and Stade Reims were followed up with a stay at Aston Villa in 2019-2021.
  • Marvelous Nakamba wore the Club jersey from 2017 to 2019, winning the title in 2018. In the Summer of 2019 he headed for Aston Villa, where he stayed until January 2023.
  • In January 2016, Wesley Moraes signed at Club, and went on to score 38 in 130 games. In 2019, Aston Villa came knocking, but the Brazilian conceded a serious injury.

So far, Club has harvest three out of 9 in the group stages:

  1. MD1 saw a hefty albeit exaggerated home defeat against UCL finalists Borussia Dortmund (Jamie Gittens 2x, Serhou Guirassy).
  2. MD2 proved more successful, as Club visited Sturm Graz; a Christos Tzolis proved enough to overcome the reigning Austrian champions.
  3. AC Milan was the opponent on MD3. Club headed for the dressing rooms one goal down after Pulisic curled it in from corner kick. To make matters worse, Onyedika saw a red card bringing Club down to ten. After the break, Club first equalised through Kyriani Sabbe, but Tijjani Reijnders decided the game in the hosts' favour with two goals (3-1). Sabbe's goal at San Siro made him the fourth youngest player (19y, 8m, 26d) to ever have scored for Club in the UCL, behind Antonio Nusa (17y 4m 27d), Charles De Ketelaere (19y 7m 10d) and Abakar Sylla (19y 8m 13d).

With three points so far, Club is in 26th place. It is in dire need of points, as only the first 24 go on.

A perfect start for Aston Villa so far, winning all three games and not conceding any goal. The Villans started out with a 0-3 win in Switzerland against locals Young Boys, goals coming from Tielemans, Ramsey and Onana. MD2 saw an upset as Durán's sole goal proved enough to send FC Bayern Munich packing, repeating that illustrious 1-0 win in the 1982 Europacup I final. Two weeks ago, Villa proved the better of Italian Bologna FC at home, goals courtesy of McGinn and Durán.

The nine points an +6 goal average put Aston Villa on top of the UCL League Phase prior to MD4. Liverpool FC's win yesterday made them overtake Aston Villa at the top.

An injury will keep defenders Tyrone Mings and Kortney Hause and midfielder Boubacar Kamara sidelined. No Raphael Onyedika in Club's line-up, sitting out a 1 day suspension after his red card at AC Milan.

The opponent

Established in 1874, Aston Villa plays its home games at Villa Park. So far, the club has made it to 7 championships (the last dating back to 1981), 7 FA Cup wins (last in 1957) and 5 League Cup wins (the last time in 1996). Villa's biggest European feat was the European Champions' Cup win against Bayern Munich in 1982.

Season 2023-2024:

  • Aston Villa ended 4th with 68 points, behind champions Man City, Arsenal and Liverpool, granting them a ticket to the UCL League phase.
  • The FA Cup campaign grinded to a halt after a defeat against Chelsea in the fourth round; the League Cup saw a demise in the first round against Everton FC.
  • Just like Club, Villa were group winners in the Conference League, going on to make it to the Semis. The group stages saw opponents the likes of Legia Warchau (Pol), AZ Alkmaar (Neth) and HSK Zrinjski (Bih), while the following rounds saw opposition from AFC Ajax (Neth) and LOSC Lille (Fra). In the Semis, Villa lost out against later winners Olympiacos FC (Gre).
  • Ollie Watkins (27 goals) made his way to the number one spot of the goal scorer's list, while Leon Bailey (14) offered the most assists.

Ten games into the current season, Aston Villa is in 6th place with 18 points, trailing seven behind leaders Liverpool FC. On Sunday, the team lost on the road at Tottenham Hotspur. Villa headed for the dressing room with a 0-1 lead, but after the break Tottenham geared up and went past Aston Villa with two goals by Dominic Solanke. In the League Cup, a 1-2 defeat against Crystal Palace meant the end of the road for Aston Villa.

Columbian forward Jhon Durán is the team's top scorer so far, netting eight (4 Premier League goals, 2 Champions League goas, and twice in the EFL League Cup). With four assists, our compatriot Youri Tielemans has set up the most goals (3 PL + 1 UCL).

Tielemans is one of two Belgians now at Aston Villa. Some stats on Belgium's golden boy:

  • His debut was at the age of 16, as RSC Anderlecht faced Sporting Lokeren in July 2013. It was also in this game that Hans Vanaken (20) made his JPL debut, scoring two for Sporting Lokeren (2-3).
  • In 4 seasons, he wore the Anderlecht jersey 185 times, scoring 35 and producing 26 assists. He was part of the selection that won the last two titles for the team from the capital (2014 and 2017).
  • AS Monaco was the next step in his career. On Wednesday, it will be exactly six years since Club Brugge claimed that resounding UCL win in Monaco (goals by Vanaken 2x, Wesley, and Vormer), with Tielemans on the pitch the entire game.
  • Next up was Leicester City, where he won the FA Cup in 2021. In the Summer of 2023, he made the move to Aston Villa.
  • Tielemans has featured for the Red Devils in 74 games, scoring 9 and producing 10 assists for his country.

Having joined the team this Summer, another Belgian at Aston Villa is Amadou Onana. Born in Dakar, he made the move to Belgium at the age of eleven, joining the youths at Anderlecht, White Star and Zulte Waregem. At the age of 15, he made his way to German Hoffenheim, but it was only at Hamburger SV in the 2nd Bundesliga that he forced a breakthrough (2020-21). One year later, he was transferred to LOSC Lille, and one year later he crossed the pond to join Everton. The 19 games he played for the Belgian national outfit saw him feature at the WC in 2022 and the EC in 2024.

Last Summer, Leander Dendoncker left the team for a loan spell at RSC Anderlecht. Other players to have left the club are a.o. midfielder Douglas Luiz and striker Moussa Diaby. Joining Aston Villa were: 

  • Defenders: Ian Maatsen, Lamare Bogarde, Kosta Nedeljković
  • Midfielders: Amadou Onana, Ross Barkley
  • Forwards: Jaden Philogene

In November 2022, Unai Emery (53) became Aston Villa manager.

  • He put Aston Villa in 7th place in 2023, and in fourth in 2024.
  • He has won the UEFA Europa League four times: 3 years in a row with Sevilla FC (2014,15,16), and another time with Villarreal CF (2021). 
  • He helped PSG to one league title (2018), 2 Coupes de France (2017,18) and 2 Coupes de Ligue (2017-18).
  • As Valencia manager, he has faced Club Brugge already three times. In the UEL group stages in 2008, he got stuck at 1-1 at home. One year later, Club beat Valencia 1-0 at home in the UEL Round of 32, but was eliminated after a 3-0 defeat after prolongations.
  • In 4 earlier UCL encounters with Belgian teams, Emery always managed to keep a clean sheet: in 2011 with Valencia against KRC Genk (7-0 and 0-0), in 2017 with PSG against Anderlecht (0-4 and 5-0).

Club Brugge lost its last three UCL home games (0-4 vs FC Porto, 0-2 vs Benfica, 0-3 vs Borussia Dortmund). Club's worst record in this department was between 2016 and 2018 when it lost four times in a row in the UCL.

The last 11 UCL games saw 6 clean sheets for Club (55%). Of all teams who have played at least 2 UCL campaigns since 2022, only Inter Milan (63%) does better.

Aston Villa overcame its first three opponents in the UCL so far. Only three teams managed to win their first four: AC Milan in 1993, PSG in 1994 and Juventus in 1995.

With 16 successful dribbles, no one does better than Morgan Rogers, making him the most successful Englishman in the first three UCL games ever since the stats have been registered in 2003.

For the third time, an English opponent will be heading for Jan Breydel to play a UCL game. Club lost against both Leicester City (0-3, 2016) and Manchester City (1-5, 2021).

Milestones

  • Simon Mignolet could be the man between the posts for the 260th time.
  • Bjorn Meijer is up for a 90th Club appearance.
  • Casper Nielsen could be featuring in Europe for the 30th time (7 for Esbjerg fB and 22 for Club), and for the tenth time in Club attire on the UCL stage.

The Man in Black

A German ref has been appointed for the UCL encounter. Mr. Tobias Stieler will be backed by his compatriots Mr. Christian Gittelmann and Mr. Mark Borsch. Fourth official will be Mr. Matthias Jöllenbeck, while Mr. Benjamin Brand, assisted by Mr. Bastian Dankert will be in charge of VAR.

Observing for UEFA is Mr. Georgios Bikas (Gre), and representing UEFA is Mrs. Camelia Nicolae (Rou).

Mr. Stieler, a 43 year old ref from Obertshausen near Darmstadt, has been awarded games at the highest level in Germany since 2012, and has been an international ref for ten years. He is an elite ref, the highest category at UEFA. He has been in charge of a game involving Club once, in the clash against Real Madrid CF in 2019.

For the 32nd time Club Brugge will be disputing a game lead by a German referee, and a second time in a row after Mr. Felix Zwayer handled the whistle at AC Milan just two weeks ago.