Officially, Aston Villa will play Club Brugge in the round of 16 of the UEFA Champions League. Given that the second leg will take place at home, the Villans have been given what is perhaps the most advantageous draw of any side remaining in the competition.
In the league phase, Unai Emery’s team lost to Brugge, but it was an odd outcome since Tyrone Mings was given a penalty for a strange handball after he picked up from Emi Martinez, believing he was going to take a goal kick. Villa was unable to respond as Brugge won that game 1-0 thanks to a penalty kick.
If anything, Villa will be even more determined to win the next time around after their dismal performance earlier in the season. Before trying to finish the match at Villa Park the following week, the Villans will be keen to secure an early aggregate lead over the Belgian Pro League team in Brugge in the first leg.
The primary weakness of Club Brugge was revealed.
It won’t be shocking that Brugge is among the weakest offensive teams in the league, at least in terms of the number of opportunities they create, given that they are one of the smallest teams still in the tournament. Nicky Hayen’s side scored merely seven goals in the eight league phase matches and then turned very clinical to see off Atalanta 5-2 on aggregate in the play-off round.
In the first leg, Brugge faced off against Atalanta and triumphed 2-1, with 11 shots to the Italian visitors’ 12. But the second leg was quite different, with Brugge astonishingly winning 3-1 even though they only had seven shots compared to Atalanta’s thirty. Brugge will undoubtedly be unable to sustain this clinical scoring rate for very long.
Of the 16 remaining clubs in the league, 10.94 is the second-worst expected goals (xG) measure; only LOSC Lille manages a lower score (10.48). Additionally, one would anticipate that Brugge would continue to struggle to create opportunities given that Villa had the fifth-best xG conceded (9.86) in the league phase.
Nicky Hayen is far inferior to Unai Emery.
It’s incredible how different Emery and Hayen’s top managerial backgrounds are. Although it’s not always the best indicator of a head coach’s overall caliber, experience is undoubtedly helpful, particularly when dealing with the intense pressure of making it to the Champions League finals.
The Spaniard has won an amazing four Europa League trophies, three with Sevilla and one with Villarreal. This is amazingly Emery’s seventeenth consecutive season playing football in Europe. Hayen, the head coach of Brugge, on the other hand, has never managed in Europe prior to March 2024.
The Spaniard will already have his sights set on the quarterfinal, and Emery is well aware of what it takes to get any farther than this. If Villa defeats Brugge, they will play either Paris Saint-Germain or Liverpool in the round of eight, which may lead to a semi-final matchup with Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Arsenal, or PSV Eindhoven.
Leave a Reply