Club Brugge vs Aston Villa

The stakes are high for Club Brugge as they entertain Aston Villa at the Jan Breydel Stadium in their maiden UEFA Champions League encounter.

Club Brugge’s hopes of progression from the newly formatted league phase are on thin ice after a 3-1 defeat at AC Milan last time out condemned them to their second loss in three Champions League outings (W1). A narrow 1-0 win at Sturm Graz in round two was insufficient to keep them in the qualifying zone at the start of this round, but there’s a silver lining. Nicky Hayen’s men have won three consecutive matches in the build-up to this fixture, including a 6-1 thrashing of Belisia Bilzen in the Belgian Cup to lift their spirits ahead of this must-win clash. However, Club Brugge will have to defy history to make that happen, considering they’ve lost 11 of their last 14 European matches against English clubs (D3) since a 1-0 win against Chelsea in the 1994/95 UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup.

Therefore, visiting Aston Villa will land in Belgium brimming with optimism, especially after winning their opening three Champions League games without conceding. Unai Emery’s side got the better of Bayern Munich, Bologna, and Young Boys during that stretch. However, the wheels have since fallen off, with the Lions going winless in their last three domestic fixtures (D1, L2), including a demoralizing 4-1 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur over the weekend. Before that heartbreak, Villa had avoided defeat in all six competitive away matches this season (W5, D1), netting at least two goals on each occasion! Yet, the upcoming trip to Belgium could stir painful memories, with the Birmingham outfit failing to win on their two previous visits to the country (D1, L1).