Ben Fisher was at the Wankdorf tonight. Here’s his report. Thanks for reading this MBM.
Unai Emery speaks to TNT Sports: “This victory is for Gary Shaw … we followed in the Champions League like they finished, winning … we want to dedicate it for Gary Shaw … we focused very well for 90 minutes … we defended well … we imposed our capacity to beat them … we were organised … we have to build and create a new way … in the Conference League it was fantastic, even if we didn’t get to the final … we used this experience and we are adding in the Champions League … we have to be strong and feel together, even when we play away from Villa Park …
Updated
That was a comprehensive victory for Aston Villa. They weathered an early storm, thanks to some typically confident goalkeeping from Emiliano Martínez, then once they found their feet on the plastic pitch, took control. Youri Tielemans opened the scoring with a glorious strike at a cleverly worked corner, Jacob Ramsey pounced on a Young Boys error to make it two, Ollie Watkins had a goal preposterously ruled out for a non-existent handball, Jhon Duran also had one chalked off for handball, albeit more understandably, though the finish was exquisite, and Amadou Onana rounded things off with a late forensic strike. An almost perfect return to the big time after a 41-year wait, with the only slight worry being the ice-pack that was applied to Watkins’ achilles as he left the field of play. Welcome back, Villa!
The other early kick-off this evening has ended Juventus 3-1 PSV Eindhoven. All of which means Aston Villa are currently top of the League Stage of the Champions League! Yes, yes, we know, but nevertheless this is factually correct, and we’re pretty sure Villa fans won’t mind us pointing it out.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aston Villa | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| 2 | Juventus | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 3 | AC Milan | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | Arsenal | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | Atalanta | 0 | 0 | 0 |
FULL TIME: Young Boys 0-3 Aston Villa
Villa wanted to honour Gary Shaw. They’ve done so in style.
90 min +5: Villa run the clock down. It’s been a very impressive performance by Unai Emery’s side. The man knows a thing or two about European competition.
90 min +3: The second disallowed Villa goal was fair enough, mind. The Watkins fiasco, not so much.
90 min +1: Duran’s shot hits Camara and pings off his hip. VAR checks for a penalty for some reason. Thankfully for fans of common sense, it’s not given. Some of these handball incidents tonight have, one way and another, been farcical.
90 min: There will be six minutes of additional time.
89 min: Unai Emery is fuming, because apparently the official put up the wrong number on his board and Villa have substituted the wrong player!
88 min: Emiliano Buendía, Ross Barkley and Ian Maatsen come on for Jacob Ramsey, Youri Tielemans and Lucas Digne. Maatsen’s last Champions League appearance: this year’s final for Borussia Dortmund.
GOAL! Young Boys 0-3 Aston Villa (Onana 86)
Since going 0-2 up, Villa have had two goals ruled out, but they finally make it 0-3 now. Onana pings a low daisy-cutter into the bottom left from 25 yards. Von Ballmoos, at full stretch, can’t reach it. Perfectly placed!
Updated
85 min: Ramsey crosses low from the left. Rogers flips a first-time shot goalwards, but it’s saved. Young Boys counter through Itten down the left. Itten’s eased off the ball by Diego Carlos. Brilliant defending.
83 min: Cédric Itten and Darian Males come on for Silvère Ganvoula and Joel Monteiro.
82 min: Ganvoula competes for a high ball in the Villa box. He goes to ground, with Diego Carlos wrestling him from behind. Another referee might give the penalty, even though it would be terribly soft … but not this one. Nor the VAR. The Young Boys faithful not happy.
81 min: Monteiro was also booked for taking umbrage at Duran’s antics.
NO GOAL: Young Boys 0-2 Aston Villa
80 min: Yep, the goal’s ruled out. The ball clearly hit Onana’s hand, though it happened a long way back in the move. Unai Emery makes the point forcefully to the fourth official. Duran looks nonplussed, and to add insult to injury, he was booked for celebrating too wildly atop the advertising hoardings.
79 min: This might not count, though, because the ball pinged off Onana’s hand earlier in the move. VAR sends the referee to the screen.
GOAL! Young Boys 0-3 Aston Villa (Duran 78)
Another day, another fine Duran goal. Ramsey passes low from the left, across the face of the box. Duran opens his body and passes magnificently into the bottom-left corner. Such a delicious finish!
76 min: Martinez irritates Ganvoula with a “friendly” pat on the cheek. Left upper. Just because. The Villa keeper knows which buttons to press.
74 min: Another Young Boys shot, fired straight at Martinez by Ugrinic. Easy for the keeper, but Villa are offering the hosts a little encouragement here. And a goal would change everything.
72 min: Carlos carelessly loses possession on the edge of his own box, giving Ganvoula the opportunity to curl a powerful shot towards the bottom right. Martinez, who has had very little to do for the last hour or so, gets down well to save.
70 min: Both Villa players are thankfully good to continue. “The Crossroads theme tune was good enough to be covered by Paul McCartney and Wings,” recalls Ian Burch. “A shame that Noele Gordon or Paul Henry didn’t appear with James Coburn, Christopher Lee, Clement Freud and others on the album cover for Band on the Run.” No pedants pointing out Macca’s cover was on Venus and Mars, please. Creative licence, as we say.
Updated
68 min: … a game of pinball breaks out. Young Boys eventually clear their lines, then the Villa doctor is required for both Ramsey and Onana, the former having had his foot stood on by Ganvoula, the latter taking a whack upside the head from Ugrinic. All accidental, but it’ll hurt.
67 min: Some news of Ollie Watkins, who has an ice-pack pressed to his achilles. Meanwhile Onana and Duran combine down the left to win another Villa corner. From which …
65 min: Digne pulls back a cross from the left. McGinn, in space just inside the box on the right, should shoot first time but takes an unnecessary extra touch. His eventual shot is blocked, but the ball breaks to Ramsey, whose rising screamer from the edge of the box is tipped over by Von Ballmoos. That’s a wonderful strike with a save to match, and nothing comes of the resulting corner, other than another corner, from which, er, nothing comes.
63 min: Alan Virginius and Abdu Conté come on for Jaouen Hadjam and Ebrima Colley. Meanwhile Peter Oh just wants to have more Lauper-related fun: “Money Changes Everything. It oughta be the anthem for this new-fangled format.”
61 min: McGinn ships possession and Ganvoula drives down the left to win a corner. Ugrinic sends it to the far post, a dangerous ball, but Camara can’t meet it and it sails out for a goal kick.
60 min: Watkins makes way for Jhon Duran.
59 min: Tielemans has another dig from distance. Straight at the keeper.
58 min: Ramsey and Rogers combine crisply down the left to release Digne into the box. Digne prepares to meet the pass and shoot but Camara comes across and bashes the ball away.
56 min: Hadjam tries to release Elia down the inside-left channel, but once again Konsa patrols his patch diligently.
54 min: Another Young Boy goes into the book, Elia clumsily air-kicking at a ball and catching Tielemans instead. Tielemans takes the free kick himself, and sends an ambitious effort from 30 yards towards the top-left corner. Too high, and Von Ballmoos probably had it covered anyway.
53 min: Hadjam floats a clever ball down the inside-left channel in the hope of releasing Ganvoula. Konsa does extremely well to read the danger and eyebrow the ball back to his keeper. Had he not done so, Ganvoula was in.
51 min: Rogers kicks the ball against Ugrinic’s arm from close range and it’s a free kick for Villa. Not sure what poor Ugrinic could have done there. The officials are all over the shop with their handball decisions tonight. Thankfully for all interested in justice, nothing comes of this set piece either.
50 min: Rogers lashes a wild long-distance shot over the bar. Undeterred, he comes at Young Boys again, winning a corner with a determined run down the left. No set-piece trickery this time, and nothing to report.
48 min: Otherwise, a scrappy start to the second half, both teams losing the ball time after time. I’ll stop now.
46 min: Lauper extends a leg for a loose ball and clips Onana on the foot. He goes into the book, yellow the true colour.
Villa get the second half started. They’ve made one change, swapping out Lamare Bogarde for Diego Carlos. Young Boys have also made a half-time sub, replacing the booked Cheikh Niasse with Meschack Elia.
Half-time postbag. “How on earth do they screw that up on a replay? From the front angle, that couldn’t more obviously come off Watkins’ chest. Ah, at least everything’s more accurate now, eh?” – James Humphries
“Most Scots know Jocky Wilson was from Kirkcaldy. However Austin McPhee was born in Kirkcaldy, too. As was Ken McNaught and Andy Blair, who both played the night Villa beat Barcelona to win the Super Cup. I was also born there however it’s unlikely most Scots would know this” – Tony Hughes
“Is Austin MacPhee the greatest MacPhee to work in Birmingham since Shughie MacPhee?” – Chris Drew (who probably knows full well Shughie’s surname was McFee, but here’s to creative licence, and in any case it gives us an excuse to play this absolute banger of a theme tune)
HALF TIME: Young Boys 0-2 Aston Villa
To be fair to Young Boys, they could have had an early goal or two. But since finding their feet on the plastic pitch, Aston Villa have run riot. It could/should be more than two. A most welcome return to Europe’s top table for the 1982 champions.
45 min +3: “Nice to see Ramsey pay tribute to Peter Withe, by almost putting wide the easiest of chances,” quips Kári Tulinius. “Withe got stick about almost missing from his teammates, and he replied that he’d just been playing a one-two with the post.”
45 min +1: The first of four additional minutes passes. That ridiculous VAR decision hasn’t dampened the spirits of the Villa faithful, who are belting out their songbook.
NO GOAL: Young Boys 0-2 Aston Villa
45 min: Watkins’ goal is struck off, the rebound off Athekame adjudged to have struck the striker on the hand. That looked like it hit his chest, and the decision guesswork on the part of the VAR, perhaps fuelled by a little sympathy for Young Boys, who have been reduced to tatters.
GOAL! Young Boys 0-3 Aston Villa (Watkins 43)
It’s 0-3 now, though. Ramsey is sent scampering down the left by Rogers. He cuts back for Watkins, on the penalty spot. Watkins sees his first effort blocked by Zoukrou. He gathers the rebound before firing into the bottom-left corner of the net. Easy as that! Villa flying.
41 min: Young Boys are all over the shop now. Rogers advances down the right and slips in Watkins, who can’t force a shot into the bottom left, or bottom right. Both efforts are blocked, the former by Athekame, who catches the ball at full pelt from close range with the contents of his trousers. Ooyah, oof, that’s gotta hurt, etc. The poor lad rolls around holding his fruit bowl and screaming in agony. On come the medics, but hey, at least it’s not 0-3.
GOAL! Young Boys 0-2 Aston Villa (Ramsey 38)
Slapstick defending by the hosts. Camara plays a dreadful backpass to his keeper amid a crowded box. Watkins tries to nip in, hoping to round the keeper to his left. Von Ballmoos brings him down. Watkins falls on the ball on the left-hand edge of the six-yard box. Ramsey digs it out from under him and slots cleverly and accurately into the far corner. That all happened in super-slow motion, in the cartoon style.
Updated
37 min: Ramsey pearls a low drive towards the bottom right. Von Ballmoos in the Young Boys goal claims well. After soaking up a lot of early Young Boys pressure, Villa have now wrested control. A second goal seems only a matter of time.
36 min: McGinn plays a lovely first-time pass down the left channel for Rogers, who is through on goal! He’s entitled to shoot, but tries to find Watkins in the middle, allowing Zoukrou to intercept and clear. Huge chance spurned.
35 min: Yes, though it doesn’t pay dividend this time. Digne again takes it short to McGinn, but this time gets the ball back and crosses himself. The ball ends up at the feet of Bogarde, who can’t get a shot away. Austin MacPhee’s imagination running riot.
34 min: He does now, though, showing Niasse a yellow card for hauling back Onana in midfield. The resulting free kick is worked wide left to Digne, who wins another corner. Do Villa have something else up their sleeve?
32 min: A Young Boys corner sent in from the left by Ugrinic. Easy for Martinez, who looks to bowl out quickly, but is hindered by Ganvoula. The keeper makes a performative meal of complaining about it, but the referee’s not going to reach into his pocket.
30 min: It should be two. Another simple long pass down the middle by Martinez, flicked on by Rogers, and Watkins is free. He surely must tear clear, shoot and score, one on one with the keeper, but he miscontrols. The ball gets stuck under his feet and when he eventually attempts a shot, it squirts slowly, harmlessly wide right.
29 min: Let’s credit Villa set-piece coach Austin MacPhee with a moral and spiritual assist there. If not an actual one. Villa’s first goal in Uefa’s premier competition since Peter Withe scored away at Juventus in 1983.
GOAL! Young Boys 0-1 Aston Villa (Tielemans 27)
This is a wonderful set piece! Digne taps the corner to McGinn, who curls long. The box is crowded in the middle, but Tielemans is alone, just inside the box on the right. He brings the ball down before pearling a low curler into the bottom left! That’s a bit of training-ground genius!
Updated
26 min: This is better from Villa. Tielemans swings in a free kick from the left but Watkins can’t get a shot away. Then Digne advances down the left and looks for Torres in the middle. His low cross is hacked out for a corner. From which …
24 min: … and so having said that, Villa very nearly open the scoring. A long hoof from Martinez down the middle of the park is met by Watkins, who cushions a wonderful header into the path of the in-rushing McGinn. The Villa skipper opens his body and sends a screeching shot towards the top-left corner. Just wide, just too high. That would have been a glorious route-one goal, fitting for an evening when we’ve been eulogising the 1980s.
22 min: Ugrinic gets up and takes the free kick himself. A fierce whip that’s punched powerfully clear from the middle of a crowded six-yard box by Martinez. The ball’s only half-cleared, and Colley sends a vicious rising drive inches over the bar from 20 yards. Martinez probably had that covered, but he was caught unawares with Colley shooting earlier than expected, so you wouldn’t bet the farm on it. Villa hanging on a bit here.
21 min: The game restarts. Young Boys are well on top. Ugrinic drives down the left and is cynically tugged down from behind by Bogarde, another player who may now be treading a fine disciplinary line.
19 min: Onana, the other player in the collision, is down as well. The medics come on and do their job. Meanwhile Ramsey takes the opportunity to change his boots. “Thanks to your plastic pitch observation, I went down a little rabbit hole about Wankdorf,” begins Joe Pearson. “There are a couple of interesting things about the stadium. The roof incorporates solar panels that produce over a million kWh per year, Is that a lot? I don’t know. Secondly, amid all the yellow and black seats is a single red seat, known as the Hot Seat. You can’t buy a ticket for it, but it is typically filled with someone who has Young Boys ties.”
17 min: Niasse bustles down the right only to be shoved in the back by Tielemans, who might have used up his free hits. One more, and he might be in the book. Then Hadjam dribbles gracefully down the left, before not-so-gracefully falling over when he enters the Villa box. He takes a whack as he falls; it’s not a penalty, but he will need some treatment after an accidental collision.
15 min: Ganvoula is sent scampering down the right, getting the jump on Digne. He crosses low and Villa are in the process of not dealing with the situation very well when the whistle rescues them. Offside. Just.
14 min: Unai Emery isn’t happy with his players, who haven’t really settled on the plastic pitch. He frantically, and angrily, issues beneficial advice, featuring words such as Eff and Jeff.
Updated
12 min: Young Boys are finding their groove. Colley and Ugrinic take turns to shoot from just inside the Villa box on the left. Colley’s effort is parried by Martinez, Ugrinic’s sails wide left.
11 min: Ugrinic takes this free kick as well, and it’s another looping, dipping effort. First up it’s too high for Colley to meet with his head, then it drops dangerously and Martinez stoops to parry on the edge of his six-yard box. Digne clears.
10 min: Bogarde lunges in on Colley, stretching for a loose ball he’s never going to reach. Another free kick, out on the left touchline. Bogarde slightly fortunate not to go into the book.
8 min: Ugrinic takes the free kick, and sends it straight at Martinez. It dips a little at the last, but doesn’t cause the World Cup winning keeper any discomfort.
7 min: Athekame bursts down the right then infield. He exchanges passes with Ganvoula before being clipped lightly by Tielemans. He goes down to purchase a soft free kick, 25 yards out in a fairly central position.
5 min: Some space for Ramsey on the left. He slips the ball infield for Rogers, who thinks about curling a shot goalwards from the edge of the box, but hesitates and allows the Young Boys defence to close him down.
4 min: Both teams scamper around, all early hope and promise. Not much shape to the match otherwise.
Updated
2 min: Two early observations. The pitch is plastic. Villa’s kit is extremely reminiscent of Beckham-era Manchester United. Think Sharp Digital and you’ll be whisked back to 2000 in a nanosecond.
Updated
Young Boys get the ball rolling. A cracking atmosphere at the Wankdorf Stadium. Our man on the spot, Ben Fisher, reports that Villa’s fans are “in good voice, determined to savour the occasion.” Meanwhile Karen Asad writes: “Always had sympathy for underdogs like Young Boys in the Champions League, but after reading Jonathan Liew’s piece on how these teams are actually monsters devouring their domestic competition, that’s done and dusted.”
The teams are out! Young Boys wear their yellow and black, while Villa sport third-choice blue. They’ve remixed the Champions League anthem, Uefa finding brand new ways of smearing their marketing mitts over the dots of George Frideric Handel. Oh Zadok!
Updated
Unai Emery talks to TNT Sport. “Good evening … we are going to try to play with confidence … to enjoy … and be competitive … we needed the bench to have impact before and we will need that again today … in training we were feeling good … we must focus on the gameplan … we will try to play with personality.”
How good was Gary Shaw? Diego Maradona once asked for his shirt. Yep, that good. Maradona put in his request after the Villa striker was instrumental in dismantling a brutish Barcelona side in the second leg of 1982 Super Cup. This piece, by our old pal Paul Doyle, tells the story in rip-roaring fashion, and is one of the all-time must-reads. If you’ve not seen it before, enjoy. You’re welcome.
Here’s how the Guardian, via the flowing pen of the legendary David Lacey, reported on Villa’s greatest night in 1982 …
… and here are the memories today of five of their heroes. If Ben Fisher’s piece somehow passed you by this morning, make yourself a cup of tea, pull up a chair, and enjoy. This is great fun, and is guaranteed to give Villa fans – and indeed everyone else who loves the sport – some warm and fuzzy feelings.
The reigning Swiss champions Young Boys are currently bottom of the Swiss Super League, without a win in their first six matches. That doesn’t quite tell the whole story, though. Having lost their three opening league fixtures back in July, they’ve since steadied the ship a bit with three draws, a couple of wins in the Swiss Cup, and home and away victories over Galatasaray to qualify for this fancy new Champions League, League Stage. (The branding folk didn’t think this through, did they.) Still, it’s not been the ideal start for Patrick Rahmen’s side, and in-form Villa will fancy their chances of getting their CLLS (I know, but we’ve got to call it something) campaign up and running with a win.
Updated
If it ain’t broke, etc. Villa have won three of their opening four games in the Premier League, and should have come away with something from the one they lost. So Unai Emery is understandably of the view that nothing much needs fixing right now. He names the same XI that started the 3-2 comeback win over Everton at the weekend.
Updated
The teams
Young Boys: von Ballmoos, Athekame, Camara, Zoukrou, Hadjam, Niasse, Lauper, Monteiro, Ugrinic, Colley, Ganvoula.
Subs: Keller, Marzino, Lakomy, Itten, Imeri, Chaiwa, Elia, Virginius, Abdu Conte, Benito, Blum, Males.
Aston Villa: Martinez, Bogarde, Konsa, Torres, Digne, Onana, Tielemans, McGinn, Rogers, Ramsey, Watkins.
Subs: Gauci, Zych, Diego Carlos, Barkley, Duran, Buendia, Nedeljkovic, Maatsen, Bailey, Swinkels, Young.
Referee: Georgi Kabakov (Bulgaria).
Unsere Startelf für den #UCL-Auftakt 🆚 @AVFCOfficial 🟡⚫️
— BSC YOUNG BOYS (@BSC_YB) September 17, 2024
YB ohne Pfeiffer, Janko, F. Conte, Crnovrsanin (verletzt), Husic, Bajrami (nicht im Aufgebot) und Seiler (U19).#bscyb #ybforever #ybavl pic.twitter.com/P6Q24tag5f
Your Aston Villa squad for our first Champions League match 🫡#UpTheVilla pic.twitter.com/dIzacg3DBD
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) September 17, 2024
Updated
Preamble
After a 41-year wait, Aston Villa compete once more for Europe’s biggest prize. The timing could not be more poignant, with the passing yesterday of 1982’s golden boy. Rest well, Gary Shaw. Kick-off in Bern is at 5.45pm BST.
Updated
