“We are top of the league, say we are top of the league,” chanted Aston Villa fans as Unai Emery’sside marked the club’s return to Europe’s elite competition with an emphatic 3-0 win over BSC Young Boys in Switzerland.
Bayern Munich’s 9-2 thumping of Dinamo Zagreb knocked Villa off top spot in the Champions Leagueleague phase table a couple of hours after the full-time whistle blew at the Wankdorf Stadium, but a victory over the Swiss champions will do for starters. Much of the pre-match talk was about the artificial surface Villa would be playing on,and in the first 20 minutes – despite training on it on Monday – you could tell the visitors were just adapting to their new conditions
After a tentative start, Youri Tielemans’ goal in the 27th minute gave Villa the platform to dominate from thereon. It was men against Young Boys. Jacob Ramsey scored just over 10 minutes later, before Ollie Watkins and Jhon Duran both saw goals ruled out by VAR either side of the break, but Amadou Onana ensured Villa would be leaving with a strong boost to the goal difference as well as three important points.
It was no surprise that Tielemans won UEFA’s Player of the Match award after his stellar showing on Tuesday night. The ball zipped about on the plastic pitch opening stages, but he managed to get a grip on the game, not only by scoring but taking the sting out of the occasion for the home side.
Young Boys’ advantage was indeed their playing surface and they had to catch Villa out early on. After failing to do so, Tielemans and Belgian compatriot Amadou Onana ran the show, which left the home crowd frustrated.
“I wanted to enjoy the game and play as I can play, give the best I can give the team, to give my whole experience from previous campaigns in the Champions League,” Tielemans told UEFA after full-time.
“With this new format, we know it’s different. Every goal matters, every point. Tonight was a good performance from myself, from the team. It feels really good for our first day. It’s amazing. Now we can enjoy tonight and focus on the next game.