Diego Carlos was booked twice in the first half against RB Leipzig out in New Jersey
Diego Carlos was booked twice in the first half against RB Leipzig out in New Jersey
Unai Emery may have to consider what happened when Aston Villa played RB Leipzig in pre-season when selecting his starting XI to face the Bundesliga side in the Champions League on Tuesday night.
The second half of the friendly out in New Jersey was relatively futile from a tactical point of view as Villa played with 10 men following Diego Carlos' sending off. The Brazilian received two yellow cards in the first half after coming to blows with Leipzig striker Lois Openda.
He lost the battle with the Belgian striker after falling into a trap which he simply didn't need to entertain in a pre-season match. There was absolutely no need to pick a fight.
READ | Aston Villa told what they must avoid after Premier League return to form
READ | Aston Villa can cash in on January transfer firesale amid £422m nightmare
Carlos likes to get physical because few forwards can get one over on him in that department, but Openda was clever. Nearly halfway through the first half, the Villa defender blocked Openda off the ball, to which the striker reacted furiously and picked up a booking. So did Carlos.
Later in the first half, with Leipzig one goal up at this point and Robin Olsen replaced due to a head injury, Openda doubled the lead. After forcing the ball past Oliwier Zych, Openda turned to Carlos and gave him some verbals before falling to the floor as Carlos appeared to put his arm across the striker's chest.
Carlos always puts himself about and was surprisingly only booked four times in the Premier League last season. He collected half of that total in the space of around 15 minutes against Leipzig in pre-season. He will, however, serve a one-match suspension in the league phase if he is booked again either against Leipzig or Monaco next month.
Openda has been in impressive form for Leipzig this season, recording 10 goal contributions in 13 Bundesliga games. He is yet to score in any of their Champions League matches, but Marco Rose's side have only scored four goals in their five straight defeats.
"The last few games weren't our best," Openda admitted last week after Leipzig ended their six-match winless run by beating Frankfurt in the German Cup.
"But this is a new month, November is in the past now. We wanted to start fresh and this win is therefore important for the whole club. We did it together; we're a team, a family. I don't like seeing the people here sad because we're losing. It's a lot nicer to see them happy.
"This win gives us confidence. We can enjoy this one in the changing room, but then we need to focus on the next game. We still have four matches until the winter break and we will keep working hard right to the end."
Would you start Carlos against Leipzig? Tell us here