Aston Villa finally know what it feels like to win again. The Europa League winners from Birmingham were too strong for Club Brugge on Wednesday in the opening round of the Champions League league phase, winning 2-3. Ian Maatsen started for Villa, while Marco Bizot and substitute Lamare Bogarde began on the bench.
John McGinn scored the first goal of this season's Champions League after eleven minutes. The Scottish midfielder curled the ball beautifully into the bottom-left corner, beyond the helpless Yann Sommer. Club Brugge hit back and levelled through a measured low finish from Hugo Vetlesen.
Midway through the first half, Villa went back in front. Emiliano Buendía found space cleverly in the penalty area and beat Sommer from close range. Then it got worse for Club Brugge when the advancing Sommer misjudged a long ball, allowing Nicolas Jackson to run through and tap in for 1-3.
After a handball, Club Brugge were handed a route back in when the ball was placed on the spot. Nicolo Tresoldi converted for the home side. The fans of the Belgian giants sensed an upset again and roared their team on. Villa also came under increasing pressure.
Tresoldi nearly grabbed the equaliser with a header soon after it became 2-3. He was unlucky to find goalkeeper Zion Suzuki in the way. Soon after, Bogarde came on for Villa, who were far less dominant after the break.
In the final ten minutes, Club Brugge turned up the pressure and regularly created dangerous moments in front of Suzuki's goal. Aston Villa held firm and put three points on the board straight away in the early stages of the Champions League.
That will be a sizeable moral boost for Unai Emery's side because they had not won once in the Premier League. The Europa League winners had not even scored in three rounds of matches.