Aston Villa vs. Club Brugge: Preview, team news, prediction for Champions League match
Aston Villa can confirm their place in the Champions League quarter-finals with a win, draw or even a small loss against Club Brugge on Wednesday.
The teams met last week in Belgium for the first leg of their last-16 tie, with Villa coming away with a 3-1 victory. The Premier League side had previously lost to the Belgian club in the league phase, so the first-leg win was a bit of retribution as well as a step towards advancing to the next round.
Now the teams will face off in Birmingham for the second leg, with the Blauw-Zwart needing nothing less than a win to move on.
Here's what to know about Aston Villa and Club Brugge before their second leg match.
Aston Villa vs. Club Brugge: Head-to-head and recent statistics
All-time meetings: 2
Club Brugge wins: 1
Draws: 0
Aston Villa wins: 1
The teams have each won one of their two total matches.
Aston Villa vs. Club Brugge: Team news
Aston Villa
Injured: Barkley, Onana
Not registered: García, Malen, Jimoh-Aloba
Suspended: None
Club Brugge
Injured: None
Suspended: None
Aston Villa vs. Club Brugge: What the managers are saying
Unai Emery, Aston Villa
(via Aston Villa)
“Nothing changes. We are respecting them a lot. We have our own experiences, myself and the players as well, in our careers.
“Tomorrow anything could happen. It’s a football match and a lot of things can happen in 90 minutes. The match can change so quickly.
“We won there but we won in the last minutes with two actions that we had. That’s football, but the respect is massive. The respect of them is massive.
“The result for us is to follow the same gameplan we had there. We’re going to play another 90 minutes tomorrow in the second leg.
“We’re ready to compete for 90 minutes. We’re ready in case of extra-time and we’re ready in case we will need a penalty shoot-out.”
Nicky Hayen, Club Brugge
(via Express & Star)
“If we did not believe in it, we would not be here. You always have to believe.
“[Wednesday] we will need a similar performance to Atalanta. But what we have done has given us confidence.
“The only thing we know is we really believe in our own chances. Even if it is a small percentage, we still believe.”
Aston Villa vs. Club Brugge prediction
These sides have shown that there isn't much between them, and the Belgians will hope to reverse their fortunes. Unfortunately for them, it seems to be a case of "too little, too late" as Villa should do enough to get through.
Prediction: Aston Villa 1-1 Club Brugge
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