Aston Villa were 3-1 up after 43 minutes but were made to sweat for their first win of the season, emerging victorious from an entertaining Champions League opener with Club Brugge. John McGinn, who struck the only goal when Villa belatedly got their season up and running last September against Bologna, opened the scoring before Emi Buendía and a first goal for Nicolas Jackson in claret and blue appeared to put Villa out of sight at half-time. The Belgian side have become familiar foes since Villa returned to the big time, the glitziest club competition of them all; a freakish Tyrone Mings handball gifted the hosts a penalty, and subsequently victory, in 2024-25 and on this occasion Aaron Wan-Bissaka conceded a second-half penalty to plunge a seesawing contest back into the balance.
Hopefully it gives us confidence for the next matches, in the Premier League this Saturday against Nottingham Forest.” Emery had been at pains to radiate positivity despite another slow start – Villa picked up their first point of the Premier League season at the weekend and these goals represented their first of the campaign – but he was typically animated on the touchline in Brugge. He was particularly agitated midway through the second half when he felt, not for the first time this season, his substitutes were not ready for action. At Hull last weekend, it was Tammy Abraham and Wan-Bissaka, and a few days earlier Alejandro Garnacho against Arsenal.
This time the culprits were Alysson, Ross Barkley and Lamare Bogarde. Zion Suzuki made a couple of fine saves, João Gomes put in a typically tigerish performance and Jackson got the goal an encouraging all-round display deserved. The 19-year-old George Hemmings did not look out of place on his Champions League debut.
McGinn’s opener was a product of the centre-back roaming unchallenged to the edge of the box. Presumably it crossed Torres’s mind to shoot, though just as he was getting giddy, he spread play to McGinn, who guided a superb first-time, left-foot strike into the far corner of Yann Sommer’s goal. In starting on Tuesday night, the Swiss became just the second goalkeeper to represent five clubs in the Champions League, but it was a night to forget for the 37-year-old.
Club Brugge replied when the lively Jan Virgili found a way past Wan-Bissaka – who was making his full Villa debut – and located Hugo Vetlesen in the box, the Norway midfielder sending a crisp finish beyond Suzuki. The hosts were level for less than three minutes, a slick Villa move culminating in Buendía wheeling away in celebration. Jackson’s deft backheel supplied Gomes, who twisted inside the box and then picked out Buendía who did the rest.
Villa’s third arrived a few minutes before the interval. Emery punched the air, his delight at establishing a two-goal advantage plain to see. Torres collected the ball on the edge of the Villa 18-yard box and, after shifting the ball out of his feet, he sent a lofted pass spinning into the opposition half, where Jackson got in between the opposition centre-backs, Lee Han-beom and Brandon Mechele.
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