A tight first-leg in Bruges saw Aston Villa claim a 3-1 advantage over their Belgian opposition, Club Brugge, in the dying moments after 70 minutes of 1-1 deadlock. The Belgians will feel hard done by the result, given their strong performance and statistical parity.
Club Brugge did start on the back foot, conceding in the third minute from a brilliantly executed Villa free kick — knocked back by Tyrone Mings to an incoming Leon Bailey who struck the ball home with aplomb. But they responded well, equalizing in the 12th minute courtesy of a Maxim De Cuyper goal, no Villa player picking up the full-back as he arrived late in the box to slot one in at the back post of goalkeeper Emi Martínez. The succeeding 70 or so minutes saw Club Brugge register two of their remaining 10 shots on target — one of which surely would have touched twine if not for a miraculous goal-line clearance from Mings — while completing 518 passes and maintaining 56 percent of the possession.
In the end, though, the legs of the Club Brugge 11 seemed to give out, with defender Brandon Mechele inadvertently punishing his own keeper while attempting to clear a Marco Asensio cross. Minutes after the devastating own goal, Asensio struck again, converting a penalty kick to seal the Villa win and give them a position of dominance going into the second leg at home. As a result, the strategy for Club Brugge going into Wednesday's match will need to be much more progressive in attacking nature — the high risk now being necessary to achieve the reward of a victory.
Marcus Rashford is reborn
Marcus Rashford's fall from the grace of those in charge at Manchester United has been well-documented, but since beginning his loan spell at Aston Villa in January, he's proven that there's a still a real player in there, capable of positively affecting games for his team. Mostly coming in off the bench, the attacker already has two assists for the Villans, and his linkup with Marco Asensio — another player reborn — has provided some of the team's best offensive energy. Wednesday's match, under the lights at Villa Park, is a great opportunity for Rashford to take a spot in the starting 11 and play with the freedom afforded by a 3-1 advantage.
With an international break imminent, Unai Emery's primary concern will be getting out of this match unscathed so that, upon return, his team can best capitalize on the chance to have a fully fit squad for their end-of-season Premier League top-five push. With that in mind, Villa — with a potential exception for Rashford — can be expected to line up with a defensive posture and look to see out the tie.
Aston Villa vs. Club Brugge, team news, predicted lineups and score
While Club Brugge has a fairly clean bill of health, Aston Villa will continue to be without Ross Barkley an, most likely, Amadou Onana. Emi Martínez and Marco Asensio are both reported as having suffered "knocks" during Villa's Premier League win over Brentford, but could still be fit for Wednesday's Champions League clash.
Club Brugge predicted line up: Mignolet, Sabbe, Ordóñez, Mechele, De Cuyper, Onyedika, Jashari, Talbi, Vanaken, Tzolis, Jutglà
Aston Villa predicted line up: Martínez, Disasi, Konsa, Mings, Digne, McGinn, Tielemans, Bailey, Rogers, Rashford, Watkins
Predicted Score: Aston Villa (4) 1 – 0 (1) Club Brugge
How to watch Aston Villa vs. Club Brugge
- Date: Wednesday, March 12
- Start Time: 4:00 p.m. EST
- Location: Villa Park — Birmingham, England
- Watch: Paramount+
Kickoff for the match is 4:00 p.m. ET, on Wednesday, March 12. The game will be streaming exclusively on Paramount+.