Aston Villa's Champions League Challenge: From Glory to Grind
Aston Villa’s summer of celebration has quickly given way to a harsh autumn of reality.
Fresh from last season’s European triumph but still winless in 2026-27, Unai Emery takes his side back into the Champions League on Tuesday night with questions swirling and patience already being tested. The stage: a familiar one. Club Brugge, away, for the third time in two years.
From glory to grind
Villa rode a wave of momentum to continental glory last season. Since then, the comedown has been sharp. The UEFA Super Cup slipped through their fingers. One point from three Premier League games has checked the early-season optimism. The same core, the same demanding coach, but a very different mood.
Emery’s reputation in Europe is formidable, built on method, detail and a knack for navigating knockout ties. That aura has taken a slight hit in recent weeks. The omission of Brian Madjo and Taylor-Harwood Bellis from the league-phase Champions League squad has drawn rare criticism, particularly after Madjo’s two-goal show against Paris Saint-Germain in the Super Cup.
The twist? Madjo wouldn’t be available anyway. He is now sidelined, joining Swiss World Cup standout Johan Manzambi and long-term absentee Amadou Onana on the treatment table. The debate over selection has been loud, but the options in attack have quietly thinned.
Suspensions, returns and a new spine
There is better news for Emery in midfield. Joao Gomes, currently serving a three-match domestic suspension, is free to feature in Europe and should inject some bite and urgency in the middle of the pitch. Villa have missed that edge in the league. Brugge are likely to feel it.
This could also be the night when some of Villa’s summer business finally steps out of the shadows. Leon Goretzka, yet to pull on the famous claret and blue in a competitive match, is in line for a debut from the bench. His presence alone changes the feel of the squad: experience, stature, a player built for big European nights.
Out wide, Ibrahim Mbaye is pushing hard for a first start. The former PSG winger offers direct running and unpredictability, the kind of threat that can rip open a cautious home side. If he gets the nod, someone must pay the price. Either rookie forward George Hemmings or busy playmaker Emi Buendia is likely to make way, and that decision will say plenty about how bold Emery wants to be.
Up front, the picture is complicated. Record signing Nicolas Jackson is expected to lead the line again. He has not convinced yet, but with Madjo injured and Tammy Abraham seemingly out of favour, Emery has little choice but to back his big-money striker and hope the European stage jolts him into life.
Behind him, there is at least clarity in goal. New number one Zion Suzuki should continue, another emblem of this new era and its high expectations.
Full-back battles and old scars in Bruges
The competition for places is fierce at full-back. Matteo Ruggeri and Aaron Wan-Bissaka are both pressing to unseat Matty Cash and Ian Maatsen. Cash offers industry and aggression, Maatsen attacking thrust and a recent reminder of his threat: he scored against Brugge at Villa Park in March 2025. Dropping either would be a significant call.
Central defence carries its own storyline. On Villa’s first visit to Bruges that same season, Tyrone Mings made a costly error that helped the hosts to a 1-0 win. That mistake still lingers in the memory. This time, Pau Torres is waiting in the wings, and the choice between Mings and Torres will be weighed not just on form but on how much Emery trusts his players to handle the ghosts of past nights in this stadium.
The likely shape of Villa’s side underlines the blend of continuity and change:
Suzuki; Cash, Lindelof, Torres, Maatsen; Kamara, Gomes; McGinn, Buendia, Hemmings; Jackson.
Champions League football is supposed to be a reward, the glamorous payoff after a season of graft. For Aston Villa, right now, it feels more like a test of nerve. Do they still look like a rising European force when the pressure bites, or does this trip to Bruges mark the first real crack in Emery’s project?
