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Aston Villas Clash in the Champions League knock out round
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Join Dan as he reviews Villas game against Club Brugee in the Champions League round of 16
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Transcript
Introduction and Episode Focus
00:00:10
Global Sports Podcast Network
Hello and welcome to today's episode of the Daily Villa podcast as part of the Global Sports Podcasting Network.
00:00:20
Global Sports Podcast Network
My name is Dan Tilley and i am your host for today. I'm here to discuss Aston Villa's Champions League first leg a knockout round clash.
Line-up Changes and Fan Reactions
00:00:36
Global Sports Podcast Network
against Club Bruges, a team that's been flying high in the Belgium League, and we know all about them from the league phase where Tyrone Ming's had that unfortunate moment.
00:00:51
Global Sports Podcast Network
um giving away a penalty and losing 1-0. So it was time to see if we could make amends in Belgium. And let's start by having a look at the starting line-up. Now, Unai made some changes for the starting line-up, um one of them leaving out a recognised right-back.
00:01:15
Global Sports Podcast Network
um I was quite surprised to not see Matty Cash, in the starting line-up and seeing Sassi there instead. Not sure how I felt about this, as Matty isn't bad going forward, and I thought that was going to be quite key for us.
First Half Highlights and Struggles
00:01:35
Global Sports Podcast Network
um But I was also keen to see how De Sassi did, and the game got off to the best possible start with Leon Bailey um
00:01:49
Global Sports Podcast Network
putting in a fantastic strike into the bottom left corner and it was the first goal that Villa have scored in 50 years in Belgium so it was a long time coming and I thought that was going to be a real moment to settle the nerves and you know we've got off to a good start and let's drive forward from here but um Villa um didn't let that happen our lead lasted for only um nine minutes. So in the 12th minute, um,
00:02:28
Global Sports Podcast Network
Bailey lost his runner down the right-hand side with De Sassi tracking his man. And this is where I get to butcher some names, so apologies.
00:02:40
Global Sports Podcast Network
But De Kuyper scored a lovely goal. I don't think there was much Martinez could have done with it. But Bailey really didn't follow his man. So despite scoring that first goal and putting us ahead, he He slipped up with that one in in my opinion, I'm afraid.
00:03:02
Global Sports Podcast Network
and And that goal seemed to lead to a long point of Villa suffering in the first half as Bruges grew into the game, with Martinez having to make a great save to keep us from going behind in the first half.
00:03:22
Global Sports Podcast Network
um It did seem to me that Villa was looking light in midfield and that seemed to play out for a lot of the game. McGinn and Tillemans never really took control and Club Bruges were able to pass through our midfield in between the lines, which um really left us exposed, I felt, at some points. And I think we were lucky to go in to half-time at 1-1.
00:03:55
Global Sports Podcast Network
But, you know, ah we we survived, and yeah we we I felt we were lucky.
Second Half Adjustments and Substitutions
00:04:04
Global Sports Podcast Network
Now, when we come back, we will be discussing um the second half and seeing if Villa were able to get any sort of result out of Belgium.
00:04:55
Global Sports Podcast Network
And welcome back to the Daily Villa where we are ah looking back at Villa's um game in in Belgium against Club Bruges.
00:05:08
Global Sports Podcast Network
And um let's now look at the second half performance. um So in the second half Villa seem to come out with quite a measured approach, taking their time.
00:05:20
Global Sports Podcast Network
and not seeming to find that final ball a little bit um similar to how our performance was when we um met them in the league phase. And that was quite concerning for me. I think a lot of it was down to Bruges' defensive discipline. They defended really well for a large period of the game.
00:05:43
Global Sports Podcast Network
But looking back at it... I also felt that there wasn't enough movement from our forward players.
Game-changing Moments and Villa's Lead
00:05:51
Global Sports Podcast Network
Now, maybe that was because of the discipline of Bruges defence, but Morgan Rodgers seemed to have large spells where he was being kept out of the game. And Rashford didn't seem as sprightly as we've seen him in the Premier League and in indeed the FA Cup. So there was a bit of a concern there for me.
00:06:15
Global Sports Podcast Network
And, you know, 63 minutes in, Unai made four substitutions with Asensio, Kamara, Ramsey and Cash. um all coming on um with a hope of shaking things up. And with Essensho coming on, this moved Rodgers out to the right with Essensho playing in the number 10 role.
00:06:37
Global Sports Podcast Network
And I thought Rodgers did really well on the right-hand side. And if we look back at, if we already know the result, this this seems a bit like a masterstroke.
00:06:49
Global Sports Podcast Network
But could this have been done any earlier? um We didn't seem to be getting a lot of whip, so I may i possibly would have brought cash on at half time to try and give that extra whip.
00:07:06
Global Sports Podcast Network
But, you know, there's me um looking at this with only my five metre swimming badge. So, you know, I'm not criticising. It's more of a...
00:07:17
Global Sports Podcast Network
An interesting point. Could this have been done any earlier? Please, you'll have to let me know in the comments. Let me know your thoughts. And once those substitutions have been made, the game started to turn into a bit of an end-to-end affair, with Essentia having a decent ah decent shot saved, and Tyrone Mings making up for that defensive error in the um the league a phase with...
00:07:49
Global Sports Podcast Network
a fantastic goal line clearance, the golden toe of Tyrone Mengs, keeping Villa in it. And I think that was so important because if we'd have gone down, think we'd have really struggled to pull it back.
00:08:04
Global Sports Podcast Network
But luckily, um Tyrone was right place, right time. And yeah, managed to manage to keep us in the game.
00:08:15
Global Sports Podcast Network
Now,
00:08:17
Global Sports Podcast Network
With that, a massive stroke of fortune turned the game on its head. And Villa had been soaking up quite a lot of pressure throughout the the second half.
00:08:29
Global Sports Podcast Network
And then a ball out to Rodgers, who whipped in a vicious cross um that was turned into his own net. And I once again apologise for their pronunciation.
00:08:41
Global Sports Podcast Network
Mechalé. Mechalé. um Yeah, turned it into his own net. And what an important event that was. And it's it's quite a shame in in its ah in the end because McAulay had been playing so well. He'd been keeping people so quiet.
00:09:00
Global Sports Podcast Network
um But you've got to take your luck. when it comes and you know it was a fantastic cross from Rogers.
00:09:12
Global Sports Podcast Network
McAlea had to do something with it as Watkins was right behind him, lined up to score with a tap-in. um So fortunately for Villa, it went in. He left his goalkeeper with no chance. um So that brought us to 2-1.
00:09:34
Global Sports Podcast Network
So after these short messages, we'll be back to discuss the rest of the game.
Victory and Implications for the Next Leg
00:10:21
Global Sports Podcast Network
And welcome back to the Daily Villa where we are discussing Villa's Champions League clash against Club Bruges. we left um We left you with Villa being 2-1 up and it really was a crazy five minutes because really three or four minutes later...
00:10:44
Global Sports Podcast Network
um Solis took out Matty Cash on the right hand side of the penalty box. It looked like it was a bit of nothing but Matty played it quite cutely and felt contact and went down and the referee pointed straight to the spot and after a short VAR check to make sure the goal, ah the ball hadn't gone out of play in the build-up um the penalty was rewarded and and
00:11:15
Global Sports Podcast Network
I must admit, when I saw Tielemans with the ball in his hand, I was a little bit concerned, but as soon as Asensio took the ball out of his hands, I don't think ii fall I saw any other result happening. It was a ah great penalty um to the bottom left corner and a real professional job, but that's what you'd expect from a multiple Champions League winner and...
00:11:44
Global Sports Podcast Network
I think we're very lucky to be having him in our ranks, and if we're not trying to go out and buy him in the summer for, what quite frankly, whatever wage he's on, I think he's the sort of player that really does elevate us to the next level.
00:12:00
Global Sports Podcast Network
So that brings us to the final result of free one and Aston Villa taking a two-goal lead back to Villa Park, leaving Bruges with a bit of a mountain to climb but um we've seen with previous results that they played fantastically well against Atalanta and gave Man City um a good game so you know it I wouldn't have necessarily described it as over yet but ah Villa in a very promising position to get through to the quarterfinals of the Champions League and
00:12:41
Global Sports Podcast Network
I'm 41 years old and I never thought i'd be saying that.
Conclusion and Call for Engagement
00:12:47
Global Sports Podcast Network
What a fantastic campaign the Champions League Unai Emery is putting together and we should be really proud of the lads doing so well.
00:13:01
Global Sports Podcast Network
And, you know, Villa rode their luck on occasion um with this. it it might feel to some that we've been paperping over papering over the cracks a bit, but but let's let's just take a positive result from Belgium and look forward to them attending Villa Park in a week's time.
00:13:27
Global Sports Podcast Network
Well, that's all we have time for today on the Daily Villa podcast. Thank you for listening to me, your host, Dan Tilley. be sure to get in touch across all socials that we have. We really love to read your comments and what you'd like to see on the show and you know your thoughts on the game and Villa in general.
00:13:52
Global Sports Podcast Network
um This podcast can be found where you find all good podcasts. And please check out the show descriptions. And don't forget to follow us or search for us on YouTube.
00:14:06
Global Sports Podcast Network
This has been a Global Sports Podcast production. Thank you for listening and up the villa.