Aston Villa have placed themselves favourably for progress into the quarter finals of the Champions League after they took a 3-1 aggregate lead back to Villa Park next Wednesday evening having toppled Club Brugge.
Villa returned to the scene of Tyrone Mings’ misjudgement, but he made up for that indiscretion and then some with an astounding goal-line clearance at 1-1 to keep Villa on terms and allow them to go forth and claim a lead.
After Leon Bailey’s opener had been cancelled out, an own goal forced by Morgan Rogers gave Villa the lead before Marco Asensio’s late penalty settled the evening – and, while there’ll be no complacency from Unai Emery, perhaps the tie.
“Aston Villa were [there] to be caught,” wrote Nieuwsblad. “Just like in early November, they were disappointing. Slow play, relying entirely on the individual class of their attackers. They didn’t get there for a long time. This team certainly didn’t prove to be stronger than Sporting, Juventus or Atalanta.
“But the good luck that the people of Bruges had in those matches now turned against them. The quality of the bench ultimately made the difference. The four players that Villa coach Unai Emery threw in after an hour were certainly not a weakening. On the contrary. Ramsey, Asensio, Cash and Kamara were not at all a weakening in minute 64.
“The focus is now on the competition, with the derby against Cercle Brugge on Sunday. But don’t let this campaign end in a fizzle in Birmingham next week. Nobody at Club deserved that.”
Club contest the Brugge derby this weekend against Cercle before their attentions turn back to trying to force their way back into the tie in Birmingham, buoyed by their recent outing in Italy and beating of Atalanta which should act as a reminder to Villa that their opponents mustn’t be entirely written off yet.
