Villa kick off league phase matches against Brugge in Champions League

Aston Villa launch their Champions League campaign with a 3-2 victory over Club Brugge in Belgium, ending their early-season goal drought.

Former Chelsea and Everton winger Pat Nevin says you "can't underestimate the importance" of Aston Villa's 3-2 Champions League win over Club Brugge on Tuesday "for their entire season". Villa breathed life into their season as they edged to a narrow Champions League victory which marked their first win and first goals of the campaign. "Just to score some goals is important for Villa," Nevin told BBC Radio 5 Live's Football Daily podcast.

It is a new chapter for Aston Villa and, against Club Brugge, they turned the page. A first win of the season, albeit more nervy than anticipated, lit the spark for Unai Emery's side. The visitors were in a commanding and deserved position at half-time, John McGinn's opener making him the club's all-time record European goalscorer with 12.

Aston Villa finally found their shooting boots with three goals at Club Brugge - but their win was not straightforward.

Aston Villa shrugged off their Premier League goal drought when they prevailed 3-2 at Belgium's Club Brugge in their Champions League opener on Tuesday. Veteran John McGinn opened the scoring for Villa with a curling shot into the far corner in the 11th minute for the first goal of the league phase in the elite event.

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 against 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 goals from Emi Buendía and a first for Nicolas Jackson 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 this time Aaron Wan-Bissaka conceded a second-half penalty to plunge a seesawing contest back into the balance. Villa had to live dangerously but equally could have won by a bigger margin. Continue reading...

Aston Villa finally ended their goal drought as they kicked off their Champions League campaign with a 3-2 win against Club Brugge on Tuesday.Villa thrashed Brugge in the Champions League last 16 in 2025 and once again they proved too strong for the Belgian club.

Follow live as Manchester City visit Porto in the Champions League, plus reaction after Aston Villa beat Club Brugge.

Incidents: The story of the matchClub Brugge Official Line-ups: Yann Sommer, Kyriani Sabbe, Lee Han-beom, Brandon Mechele, Joaquin Seys, Freddie Potts, Hans Vanaken, Hugo Vetlesen, Carlos Forbs, Nicol...

The UEFA Champions League is back this week! Enjoy all of Tuesday's league phase matches across Europe.

⚽ Champions League news from the 5.45pm BST kick-off ⚽ Live scores | Follow us on Instagram | Read Football Daily The Champions League’s back, baby! A lot has changed since Paris Saint-Germain retained the giant trophy in May – not least at Villa Park. Aston Villa covered themselves in glory at the end of lsat season, qualifying for the Champions League on two fronts, but six of the XI that started their Europa League final victory over Freiburg have been pinched by other clubs. No team can be de-spined without suffering the consequences, and Villa have had a tough start to the Premier League season: three games, one point, no goals. You’d expect Unai Emery to navigate the necessary transition, and we shouldn’t forget that Villa had an equally poor start last season. But for now the mood around the club might reasonably described as sub-optimal. Continue reading...

Aston Villa produced a superb attacking display to end their scoring concerns and begin their Champions League campaign with a thrilling 3-2 win over Club Brugge.