Aston Villa played the final 16 Champions League draw with club Brugge after a confusing self-destruction on the Belgian side to beat Unai Emery’s man with a 3-1 first leg victory.
Villa led the way in Leon Bailey’s third-minute effort, only responding nine minutes through Maxim de Cuyper after the dominant Belgian champion.
After Atlanta tore in the playoff round, Bruger continued to upgrade after the upgrade and turned down multiple opportunities to lead Villa Park next week.
But the dominant Belgian champion has now done it all after Brandon Mechele confidently imposed a fine on the brink of Villa’s quarter-finals against Liverpool or Paris Saint-Germain through his own network.
The villa leads Bruges 3-1! ⚡️⚡️
Replace Marco Asensio Nets and put Aston Villa in a good position in the tie…🙌
📺Watch the Champions League live broadcast @tntsports and @discoveryplusuk pic.twitter.com/xrag5kezw0
– Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) March 4, 2025
Club Brugge vs Aston Villa
Villa met Tyrone Mings from Bailey for the first chance he got from a free kick defeat by Youri Tielemans and went to the top right corner with his first pass over Simon Mignolet.
Marcus Rashford was then attempted by Villa to double his advantage, but soon nailed goalkeeper Emi Martinez, perhaps at fault.
Christos Tzolis collected the ball on the left and had the time and space to pick de Cuyper, his left foot shot was enough to beat Martinez’s stretched out hand.
Martinez saved a beautiful close-up redemption from Chemsdine Talbi to keep the average as Brugge was confident before halftime.
The frustrating Unai Emery made four changes in the 64th minute to regain the momentum, and only Mignolet’s reflection prevented one of Villa’s alternatives (Matty Cash) from putting them back in front.
But Bruger went on to decide on the proceedings, Hans Valaken saw a distant header, and then the tzolis exploded violently, wide, and not too handsome after hitting the shot.
Brugge ended up paying for their splurge as Mechele showed a bigger frontier, albeit in the wrong purpose.
Your own goal! ! 🫣
Mechele and Brugge’s disaster as Aston Villa takes the lead in leaving home! 💥
📺Watch the Champions League live broadcast @tntsports and @discoveryplusuk pic.twitter.com/0tlbxla9o3
– Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) March 4, 2025
In the 82nd minute, he accidentally brought Morgan Rogers’s brilliant crosses to more and more.
Worse, six minutes later, Asensio drove the bottom left corner from 12 yards after Tzolis brought a clumsy challenge.
Brugge fell with a late collapse and did have a chance to correct the balance of damage time. But backup Hugo Vetlesen summed up a frustrating night when he shone to ensure Villa will return to the Central Region with a possible decisive two-goal advantage.
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