Four months after Tyrone Mings’ astonishing clanger in Bruges, it was this time Aston Villa who were the beneficiaries of two remarkable errors.
Villa will head into next Wednesday’s second leg with the advantage after a calamitous own goal from Brandon Mechele and a needless penalty given away by Christos Tzolis swung the momentum towards the visitors late in the contest.
Substitute Marco Asensio provided the crucial third goal from the spot to give Villa a major chance of reaching the Champions League quarter-finals.
There was also a moment of redemption for Mings, who produced an outstanding goal-line clearance with the scores level.
Mings had gifted Club Brugge victory in the group game in November by inexplicably handling the ball in his own penalty area.
Emery described this tie as a “key moment” in Villa’s season and his team will be favourites to progress, despite Club Brugge’s impressive away win over Atalanta in the previous round.
Villa’s manager was booked in the second half for dissent but this felt like a big moment in their season.
Full match report to follow
07:37 PM GMT
Full time: Club Brugge 1 Aston Villa 3
A great result for Villa and I suppose reward for the bold substitutions and Rogers’ early cross suddenly injecting some urgency. It seemed to be heading for a certain draw until that moment. If it were not for what happened against Atalanta it would be easy to write off the second leg but Villa do concede a few and Club Brugge did demonstrate how good they can be with the number of decent chances created by the wingers and Jashari.
07:35 PM GMT
90+2 min: Club Brugge 1 Aston Villa 3
As Ally McCoist points out Club Brugge scored three in Bergamo to beat Atalanta. Vetlesen just squanders a fine chance to give them a smaller mountain to climb in Birmingham, blazing over from 16 yards when set up by De Cuyper’s cut-back.
07:33 PM GMT
90 min: Club Brugge 1 Aston Villa 3
Bogarde → Watkins
Vetlesen → Onyedika
Skoras → Sibbe.
Four minutes of added time are signalled.
07:31 PM GMT
89 min: Club Brugge 1 Aston Villa 3
A game turned upside down in five minutes by an early cross bringing an own goal and a daft penalty when Tzolis loft the ball, panicked and dived in to trip Cash when trying to make amends. The VAR check was for whether the ball had gone out of play a couple of passes earlier but it hadn’t.
07:29 PM GMT
GOAL!
Club Brugge 1-3 Villa (Asensio, pen) Slotted it with his left foot into the bottom left. Mignolet went the right way but it was placed into the side-netting and hence unreachable.
07:28 PM GMT
VAR check for Villa penalty
It stands for Tzolis’ rash foul on Cash.
07:28 PM GMT
84 min: Club Brugge 1 Aston Villa 2
At last, Club Brugge make some chnages:
Siquet → Talbi
Nilsson → Jutgla
07:24 PM GMT
GOAL!
Club Brugge 1 Aston Villa 2 (Mechele og) Rogers races down the right to hit an early cross, looking for Watkins. Mechele slides in seven yards out to stop it reaching the Villa striker and rifles it past Mignolet who had no hope of saving it.
07:23 PM GMT
80 min: Club Brugge 1 Aston Villa 1
Don’t think I’ve seen a team this season stick to the starting XI as long as Club Brugge have tonight.
07:20 PM GMT
78 min: Club Brugge 1 Aston Villa 1
After treatment Ordonez will continue. Club Brugge have a throw-in on the right, parallel with the 18-yard line but Villa clear the catapult-like hurl into the box.
07:18 PM GMT
76 min: Club Brugge 1 Aston Villa 1
Ordonez is hurt after Watkins, I think accidentally, rakes his achilles before they leapt for a header.
07:17 PM GMT
74 min: Club Brugge 1 Aston Villa 1
Vanaken slips in Tzolis with a flick round the corner down the inside-left channel, bisecting Cash and Konsa. The former Canary runs on to it and slices a left-foot shot horribly high and wide when clean through on Martinez.
07:15 PM GMT
72 min: Club Brugge 1 Aston Villa 1
Emery receives the game’s first yellow card for complaining about a foul, waving his arms, spitting feathers, stomping about in a proper fug of frustration.
07:14 PM GMT
70 min: Club Brugge 1 Aston Villa 1
Now Club Brugge have a big chance when Tzolis flies down the left and whips over a cross right on to Vanaken’s head at the back post. The home side’s captain steers the header back across goal and seemingly swerving in at the left post until Mings, facing goal, somehow gets his foot up to swipe it wide with a scrape of his laces. The clearance of the season and yet the referee doesn’t spot it and gives it as a goal-kick! No justice for defenders.
07:11 PM GMT
68 min: Club Brugge 1 Aston Villa 1
Asensio almost makes an instant impact after Ramsey on the left picks out Asensio to the left of the penalty spot to shoot, low and hard. Mignolet palms it up and it loops to Cash who shins his volley from six yards over the bar.
07:09 PM GMT
66 min: Club Brugge 1 Aston Villa 1
Vital block by Tielemans when Tzolis shoots from the right of the D after excellent work by Jashari down the left after catching the just introduced Cash cold.
Rogers comes out to the right, Ramsey slots in on the left and Asensio has his usual roving role.
That was a rather average performance from Marcus Rashford.
The Manchester United loanee appeared bright early on but has just been replaced and can have no complaints.
Villa have been poor in wide areas and Unai Emery’s changes here underline his frustration.
07:06 PM GMT
64 min: Club Brugge 1 Aston Villa 1
Space opens up for Bailey from 30 yards so he has a dig with his left foot and slashes his shot high over the bar.
Cash → Disasi
Kamara → McGinn
Ramsey → Bailey
Asensio → Rashford.
07:04 PM GMT
62 min: Club Brugge 1 Aston Villa 1
Emery has four substitutes lined up. Time to ring the changes. Disasi piles forward on what should be his last raid with Cash poised to come on but gets summit fever high up the pitch and turns back.
07:02 PM GMT
60 min: Club Brugge 1 Aston Villa 1
Ordonez steps into midfield to intercept a pass and start a counter down the left. The ball is fed to Vanaken who could have had a strike on goal but instead opts to try to thread it to Jutgla who can’t control it.
06:59 PM GMT
58 min: Club Brugge 1 Aston Villa 1
Rashford plays a cute pass infield with Digne making a run down the left to take the full-back with him. Rogers had dropped short to gather but when he tried to turn Onyedika nicked the ball of him with a perfectly timed tackle.
06:57 PM GMT
56 min: Club Brugge 1 Aston Villa 1
Onyedika latches on to a stray ball in midfield to spear a right-foot shot from 25 yards that rises. Martinez takes it over his head. Had it wobbled or dipped it might have discomfited him a bit more.
It has been a very frustrating night for Ollie Watkins so far.
The England international has been surrounded by defenders whenever he is in close proximity of the ball and has found chances scarce.
Unai Emery will still be expecting more from him, though, and Villa are currently lacking any semblance of spark in attacking areas.
06:55 PM GMT
54 min: Club Brugge 1 Aston Villa 1
Club Brugge corner on the right after De Cuyper’s shot was deflected behind. Villa win the first header and Mings sees off Tzolis as they tried to slip him back in down the right, holding him off the ball until it trickles behind for a goal-kick.
06:53 PM GMT
52 min: Club Brugge 1 Aston Villa 1
Add young Sabbe to that list as he uses his strength and nous to hold off Watkins and disrupt him as he shaped to shoot.
06:52 PM GMT
50 min: Club Brugge 1 Aston Villa 1
Jutgla wants a free-kick after Konsa’s hand brushed his face as he tried to get on the end of a one-two through the middle but he threw himself on to the floor after the lightest of touches. The ref waves his appeal away.
06:50 PM GMT
48 min: Club Brugge 1 Aston Villa 1
Is it reductive to watch football matches and think, ‘he would be a good buy for a Premier League team’? If it isn’t Ordonez, Jashari, Onyedika and Talbi would be well worth a punt.
06:48 PM GMT
46 min: Club Brugge 1 Aston Villa 1
Villa work the ball back to Martinez and he plays it square to Konsa who is hacked down by Jashari which hints at a much higher press at times from Club Brugge in this half.
06:36 PM GMT
Half-time verdict
Finely balanced contest here at Jan Breydelstadion, and it could go either way.
Villa would happily take a draw ahead of the second leg but Club Brugge have responded well to going down.
After equalising through Maxim De Cuyper, they almost added a second goal but for an excellent save by Emiliano Martinez from Chemsdine Talbi.
Villa need way more from their big players like Marcus Rashford, Ollie Watkins and Morgan Rogers.
You have to wonder how long it will be until Unai Emery introduces substitute Marco Asensio from the bench.
Asensio has four goals since signing on loan from PSG and to find out more about Emery’s long pursuit of the Spain international, click here.
06:35 PM GMT
Half-time: Club Brugge 1 Aston Villa 1
Villa started very well with their wingers high and both looking menacing on the run. They scored from a well-worked set-piece routine and left Club Bruggel looking gobsmacked and dazed for a few minutes. But since they equalised Club Brugge have been the better side, Jashari picking passes and the wingers getting the better of the full-backs a couple of time. Villa look dangerous on the break but they can’t draw Club Brugge on to them when they stroll around at the back and it is frustrating them. We have to remember that this is the first two-leg knockout tie they have played this season and Club Brugge already have a victory in one up their sleeves. No one wants to be out of it before the second leg.
06:31 PM GMT
44 min: Club Brugge 1 Aston Villa 1
Crowd unhappy when Tielemans, the ultimate Villain tonight for his Brussels past, brings down Jashari by sticking a knee out after being rolled. But the referee waves play on.
06:27 PM GMT
41 min: Club Brugge 1 Aston Villa 1
Rashford exploits his pace and power to hold off Sabbe as he ran down the left and scooted up the byline into the box before crossing straight into Mignolet’s midriff. Emery is windmilling his arms and looks like he’s blowing his top. ‘Undemonstrative’ is not a word that would ever apply to the Villa manager.
06:25 PM GMT
39 min: Club Brugge 1 Aston Villa 1
Villa start another attack deep and at walking pace. Unai Emery has been urging Watkins to change the patterns of his movement.
06:23 PM GMT
37 min: Club Brugge 1 Aston Villa 1
Club Brugge corner on the left after Disasi’s block of Jutgla’s cross. The home side whip it long to their masked veteran centre-half Mechele who nods it on to the roof of the net.
06:22 PM GMT
34 min: Club Brugge 1 Aston Villa 1
Jashari, who has a couple of Switzerland caps, is starting to pull the strings for Club Brugge, picking out the wingers whse touch is assured so far.
06:18 PM GMT
32 min: Club Brugge 1 Aston Villa 1
Superb save by Martinez, low to his right from Talbi’s drilled shot. The ball came in from the left winger Tzolis across the box to the right winger who hit the target from 12 yards with a half-volley and was thwarted only by a goalkeeper of World Cup-winning class. Mings boots the rebound from the parry away before Jutgla could pounce on it.
That Club Brugge equaliser has really knocked Villa out of their stride.
Villa had set an excellent early tempo but the goal from Maxim De Cuyper has swung the momentum back towards the home team.
Will be worth keeping an eye on Axel Disasi tonight. He’s playing at right-back and the Chelsea loanee has rarely looked comfortable there during his time at Stamford Bridge.
It was down the Villa right where the equaliser came from, and Disasi was badly exposed.
06:16 PM GMT
30 min: Club Brugge 1 Aston Villa 1
The galloping Disasi sends Bailey down the right and the Jamaica winger feints, turns and hares infield until his left-foot cross/shot hits a defender and balloons comfortably to Mignolet.
06:14 PM GMT
28 min: Club Brugge 1 Aston Villa 1
Bailey looks a proper threat down the right but needs more ball to see id De Cuyper is as good going backwards as he is going forward.
06:11 PM GMT
26 min: Club Brugge 1 Aston Villa 1
Talbi cuts in off the left to shoot with his right but McGinn’s block with a raised leg diverts it off target.
06:10 PM GMT
24 min: Club Brugge 1 Aston Villa 1
Villa free-kick on the right, 20 yards out. McGinn whips this one in with his left but cannot beat the first Club Brugge sentry who heads it back out. McGinn has another go and stands up a deep cross to the far post where Mignolet comes out to claim it.
06:08 PM GMT
22 min: Club Brugge 1 Aston Villa 1
Good tackle by Disasi stops Tzolis, telescoping out his left leg and scraping the ball away with his studs. It’s all down the left from Club Brugge.
06:07 PM GMT
20 min: Club Brugge 1 Aston Villa 1
A bit cat and mouse so far. Only pressing in the middle third. Bailey runs at De Cuyper, double backs and Villa horseshoe it around across the back four up the left and back again before chipping long for Bailey who spun behind De Cuyper but the left-back managed to pick off the header as Bailey gambled on the ball bouncing on.
06:05 PM GMT
18 min: Club Brugge 1 Aston Villa 1
Martinez stands with the ball at his feet, unpressed by the D for a long enough time to elicit some whistles. It’s a genuine tactic, I think, to lure Club Brugge on to them but so far they’re not playing their game in the final third.
06:03 PM GMT
15 min: Club Brugge 1 Aston Villa 1
Villa are trying to slow the tempo to lure Club Brugge into the trap so that they can use the pace of Watkins, Rashford and Bailey. But the home side are not taking the bait and pressing them when they stroke it around the back.
Club Brugge are set up in a 4-1-4-1 and Villa have Rogers deeper and Bailey and Rashford pushed high, more 4-2-1-3 than 4-2-3-1.
05:57 PM GMT
GOAL!
Club Brugge 1 Aston Villa 1 (De Cuyper) Tzolis and De Cuyper who combined to win that corner a minute or so ago do so again. Big right to left diagonal picks out the former Norwich winger who faces up Disasi, who is at right-back not Konsa. He has the patience to wait for De Cuyper’s underlapping run and he squares it to the marauding left-back, left on his own by a dozing Bailey, to steer a shot with his left instep unstoppably into the bottom right corner.
05:55 PM GMT
9 min: Club Brugge 0 Aston Villa 1
Villa look lethal on the break and Tielemans, booed because of his Anderlecht pass, finds Rashford who tacks across field as he tears forward, plays a one-two with Bailey then takes on a right-foot shot from a tight angle that Mignolet saves with his legs.
05:54 PM GMT
7 min: Club Brugge 0 Aston Villa 1
Corner for Club Brugge after Tzolis and De Cuyper combine down the left and the former holds off Disasi to put the left-back down the line on the overlap. Konsa blocks the cross behind for a corner that they waste by hitting it over the box and out for a goal-kick.
05:52 PM GMT
5 min: Club Brugge 0 Aston Villa 1
Hayen threw his arms up when the ball went in and for a moment or two Club Brugge look utterly crestfallen. Talk about bursting a bubble. But they’re a good side and Jashari carries the ball forward, trying to find Jutgla in the channels.
Dream start for Aston Villa, who have required just 136 seconds to achieve what they failed to do over 97 minutes in November.
Leon Bailey has swept the ball home from 12 yards and that is his first goal in the Champions League for Villa.
Now we will see what Club Brugge are all about with how they respond.
05:48 PM GMT
GOAL!
Club Brugge 0 Aston Villa 1 (Bailey) Free-kick in the centre-circle inside the home half. Tielemans chips it to the left of the box, Mings heads it back across to the right of the penalty spot and Bailey meets it with a magnificent left-foot half-volley that he guides into the bottom left corner after shouting to Rogers to ‘leave it’.
05:47 PM GMT
1 min: Club Brugge 0 Aston Villa 0
Proper racket from the fans as they kick off and Villa immediately slow it down with Mings putting his foot on the ball for 20 seconds before trying to trigger an attack up the left but the ball doesn’t stick with Rashford. .
05:45 PM GMT
Blues play whites
Club Brugge are in their pastel blue and navy stripes, Villa in their cherished, Rotterdam ’82 final all white.
05:43 PM GMT
The teams are in the tunnel
Cue traditional waving of large, round banner as if enticing someone to jump from a burning building into it and:
Ce sont les meilleures équipes
Sie sind die allerbesten Mannschaften
The main event
Die Meister
Die Besten
Les grandes équipes
The champions
05:35 PM GMT
One to watch
A big night for Marcus Rashford ahead, making his first Champions League appearance since being sent off for Manchester United against FC Copenhagen in November 2023.
Rashford still has vast experience of the competition and will be desperate to score his first Villa goal tonight.
A Club Brugge player to watch is undoubtedly centre-back Joel Ordonez, an Ecuador international.
Rated as one of the best young talents in Europe, Ordonez is also understood to have been scouted frequently by Villa.
05:33 PM GMT
Polite as ever, Unai Emery speaks to TNT Sports
Good evening. Of course we know their [Club Brugge’s] potential and we know we have to be strong, offensively, defensively, technically. We have to be strong and to try not to concede. It’s a tough match and we respect them a lot. They deserve to be here, we deserve it, too, but today will be a different match. Hopefully we can show our best performance collectively and individually.
[Why is Marco Asensio on the bench?] For one reason. [Would you care to elaborate?] He is on the bench.
05:18 PM GMT
Villa fans have been enjoying their return trip
05:02 PM GMT
Club Brugge’s best chance
Club Brugge’s victory over Villa in November was arguably their finest ever night against English opposition in the Champions League.
They have reached the round of 16 after an outstanding away victory over Atalanta, and that is why they cannot be dismissed as total outsiders here.
You get the sense this will be their big chance tonight to pull off another shock, and a home win could prove vital.
Villa are unbeaten at home in the Champions League this season and have already beaten Bayern Munich, Bologna and Celtic in front of their own supporters.
04:58 PM GMT
Your teams in black and white
Club Brugge Mignolet; Sabbe, Ordonez, Mechele, De Cuyper; Jashari, Onyedika; Tzolis, Vanaken, Talbi; Jutgla.
Substitutes Jackers, Romero, Vetlesen, Vermant, Nilsson, Skoras, Nielsen, Siquet, Spillers, Campbell.
Aston Villa Martinez; Konsa, Disasi, Mings, Digne; Tielemans, McGinn; Bailey, Rogers, Rashford; Watkins.
Substitutes Olsen, Zych, Cash, Pau Torres, Maatsen, Bogarde, Ramsey, Kamara, Asesnio.
Referee Joao Pinheiro (Portugal)
04:51 PM GMT
Mings’ redemption?
Round two of Aston Villa in Bruges, and Unai Emery will be demanding a reaction after the first meeting.
Villa’s 1-0 defeat here in November at the group stage was a shocker, and Emery’s players were made to sit through a video nasty review on Monday morning.
The big news from Belgium is that Tyrone Mings starts on his return to the scene of a huge personal embarrassment.
Who can forget that moment when Mings picked up the ball in his own penalty area to literally hand Brugge the points?
Emery was seething, and Mings will be hoping for some form of redemption today. A clean sheet would be ideal.
04:49 PM GMT
Club Brugge team news
04:47 PM GMT
Rashford starts for Villa
04:46 PM GMT
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04:45 PM GMT
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04:40 PM GMT
Preview: Concentration essential
Good evening and welcome to live coverage of the first leg of the Champions League Round of 16 tie between Club Brugge and Aston Villa, are prise of their meeting during the endomorphic group stage back in November when Brugge won 1-0 by virtue of a Tyrone Mings brain fade.
The two meet again after Brugge qualified in last place for the play-offs and then stunned Atalanta 5-2 over two legs, much to the chagrin of Gian Piero Gasperini and Ademola Lookman. They are currently second in the Jupiler Pro league, nine points behind Genk with two matches to go before the top six spilt for the play-offs. Managed by Nicky Hayen, a man the whole world now knows is a hero in Pembrokeshire after his season managing Haverford West in the Cymru Premier three years ago, Club Brugge, famously finalists in 1978 at Wembley when beaten by a Dalglish dink, are back at this stage for the first time since 2023 when they were knocked out by Benfica.
Villa, by contrast, have not been in the last 16 since they were reigning champions in 1982-83. Demonstrating just how bloated the competition has to become, the R16 was better known as the second round back then when winning four ties would get you to the final and the late, great Gary Shaw had stormers home and away against Dinamo Bucharest, scoring both goals in the 2-0 victory in Romania and a hat-trick in the 4-2 home win.
Unai Emery’s side are currently 10th in the Premier League having qualified automatically for this stage after finishing eighth in the 36-team Swiss model league. They have found the burden of so many extra matches taxing on their domestic league form so far but their astute business in the January transfer window has given them the options of Axel Disasi, Marcus Rashford and three-times Champions League winner Marco Asensio in their squad tonight. The Spain forward is in such sensational form a fourth medal is not entirely out of the question despite the pedigree of the teams left in.
