Dave Woodhall witnesses a memorable night as Villa beat Bayern Munich.
Half a hour before kick-off the streets around Villa Park were a lot quieter than usual. Given what’s gone on this season no-one was taking any risks about missing anything but it seeemd as though the problems that have caused so much controversy were thankfully absent. At 7.45 I walked up to my seat and looking at the Champions League branding all over the ground it was impossible not to feel the hairs pricking on the back of your neck. This was it. Aston Villa were back in the big time.
Of course, it wouldn’t be the Vila without one cock-up. Two dozen ball boys or whatever they’re called these days were standing around the centre circle ready to hold up the Champions League logo, and someone turned the pitch sprinklers on. Only at Villa… And then the entrance of the teams, the anthem, that huge great banner. I’m usually a bit cynical about club-led initiives but this one just felt right. We were showing our best side to the world.
The big talking point around the starting line-up was the inclusion of Jaden Philogene, who with the best will in the world has done little since his return to justify playing, but Unai Knows. Five minutes into the game and the pattern was set, with Bayern having most of the possession and Emiliano Martinez making a good save from Harry Kane, miraculously recovered after being doubtful a few days earlier.
For much of the first half the stats being displayed on the scoreboard were embarassingly one-sided, with Bayern having 70% of the possession and completing three times more passes than Villa. Then Villa changed to a more direct style and suddenly we were back in the game. There was a good shout for a foul when Ollie Watkins was brought down, but if the ref had called it he would have had to seriously think about sending a Bayern defender off, which would never do. The same thing happened five minutes later, but at least this time there was a booking.
The next talking point came when Philogene did well to lay off the bal for Pau Torres to poke into the net only for the goal to be ruled out for a marginal and much earlier offside. Bayern started geting on top again and Martinez made another great save, this time at full stretch from a long-range shot.
Substitutions were made, most notably when Leon Bailey came on for the injured Jacob Ramsey in the first half only to be replaced himself after an hour. The countdown to Chaos Time had begun and with twenty minutes remaining the man himself made his entrace. Eight minutes later he ran onto a long ball from Torres and had the sheer audacity to hit a lob from 25 yards. There was no VAR check.
There were four minutes of stoppages and in the first of them Martinez made yet another world-class save, alhough it wasn’t as good as the one he pulled off five minutes later. The ref gave a final free-kick to Bayern on the edge of the area in an attempt to get them an equaliser but this was Villa’s night. It might not have been the greatest performance but it never is when we beat Bayern.
It was a night when the manager showed once again that he isn’t afraid to make tough decisions and can also abandon the style that has brought him so much success – Villa probably played more long balls in this game than they have in the whole of Emery’s reign.
We know we’ve got the best keeper in the world. We’ve also very likely got the best twenty year-old striker. And on a night like this I’ll also say we’ve got the best manager.
