Aston Villa fans are in dreamland watching their team compete in the Champions League this season.
Unai Emery helped Villa return to the Champions League for the first time in over four decades after the last campaign and he will be remembered fondly for it.
But the players aren’t here just to make up the numbers, they want to compete and charge their way towards the knockout stages, and beyond.
That has been proven by Villa’s standout win over Bayern Munich, among other positive results, with the only defeat coming away at Club Brugge.
Aston Villa’s performances in the Premier League have been iffy, but you can’t have that same complaint about what is being served in Europe.
One man who is standing above many is the rising star and recently capped England international, Morgan Rogers.
Morgan Rogers has completed more dribbles than Vinicius Junior and Florian Wirtz in the Champions League
Only 12 months ago, Rogers was trying to earn regular game time in the Championship with Michael Carrick at Middlesbrough.
Yet fast forward to the present and he is, not just competing alongside the likes of Vinicius Junior and Florian Wirtz, but even bettering them in certain areas of the pitch.
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Vinicius has two Champions League medals to his name and is Real Madrid’s main guy, with his ability to dribble at speed and change direction in any way being his biggest asset.
But Rogers has completed more dribbles than the Brazil star this season in Europe’s elite competition (18), and if you combine it with Key Passes from open play, then he is matching Bayer Leverkusen’s title-winning star, Florian Wirtz.
Morgan Rogers of Aston Villa FC battles for the ball with Joaquin Seys of Club Brugge KV during the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Phase MD4 ...
Photo by Joris Verwijst/BSR Agency/Getty Images
“Morgan Rogers is one of only five players to have completed 10+ dribbles (18) and make 10+ key passes from open play (10) in the UEFA Champions League this season,” wrote Aston Villa Statto on Twitter.
Rogers’ overall stats in the Champions League for Villa
That first goal in the Champions League isn’t far away for Rogers and his performances so far are deserving of it – at a minimum, three more games remain for him to get it, including Villa’s all-British clash against Celtic on January 29.
It isn’t a surprise that Unai Emery has started the ball-carrying expert in every European game this season and that is expected to continue for Villa’s clash against RB Leipzig.
WhoScored have rated Rogers’ performances so far at a really impressive 7.10.
Tournament Apps Goals Assists Yel Red SpG PS% MotM Rating
Champions League 5 – 1 – – 1.8 75.9 1 7.10
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