Villa turn it around at Jan Breydel
Aston Villa won 3-2 away at Club Brugge on Tuesday night. Opening night in the Champions League, Villa’s first win of the season. Five goals, a game with no handbrake, and three points hauled back from Belgium.
John McGinn got them up and running in the 11th minute. A curling left-foot finish from the edge of the box, bent into the far corner. The Scotland captain did more than break the deadlock. He carved out a place in club history.
Brugge had been fancied to start with. The stats models made the Belgians 58,5 % likely to win, with Villa down at 20,7 %. Jan Breydelstadion and its 29 000 seats were expecting a different story.
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McGinn goes past Ollie Watkins
That goal was McGinn’s 12th in European competition for Aston Villa. He moves ahead of Ollie Watkins on 11. Nobody has done better in the club’s major continental campaigns.
The Scotland midfielder is not a natural finisher. But when it matters, he finds a way. Last May, he had a major say in the 3-0 Europa League final win over Freiburg, the trophy that dragged Villa back among the big boys.
A start to the season that carried real pressure
Villa arrived in Belgium without a win to their name. A 0-0 draw at Hull City, a 1-0 home defeat to Arsenal, a 4-0 hammering at Brighton, and a 2-1 loss to PSG in the Super Cup. Four competitive matches, no wins.
Brugge, by contrast, came in off a 1-0 victory at Lommel. The Belgians had also beaten Villa 1-0 at home in November 2024. Recent history still tilted the English side’s way, though, with two wins in three meetings, including a 3-1 success at Jan Breydel in March 2025.
Unai Emery finally has his first win of the campaign. And, naturally, it comes in the Champions League.
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