Aston Villa: Long history and greatest club success against FC Bayern

In our preview of the next Champions League player Aston Villa, we reveal which inscription can be read above the boxes in the stadium, why the club is looking forward to the duel with FC Bayern Munich and which player is particularly dangerous.

Aston Villa’s roots date back to 1874, when members of a Methodist church founded the club. Initially, the man devoted himself to cricket, but soon the man discovered the fascination for football.

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As a founding member of the Football League in 1888, the club made football history. However, Aston Villa’s greatest triumph came in 1982 when they won the European Cup against FC Bayern, thereby securing their place in the history books of European football.

The spectators in Villa Park can read how important this game was: Above the boxes, the inscription stretches across the entire width of the north stand: “Shaw, Williams, ready to dare down the left. There’s a good ball for Tony Morley. Oh, it has to be! & It is!! Peter Withe!!”

This quote comes from Brian Moore’s television commentary during the BBC-Transmission and describes the seconds before the decisive goal to make it 1-0 in the final against FC Bayern. The game against Bayern is therefore an absolute highlight for the spectators in Birmingham, and the Munich team must be prepared for a fantastic atmosphere.

In the first game of the Champions League season, Aston Villa won 3-0 at Young Boys Bern, but initially had big problems against the Bernese team’s high man-to-man pressing, before two goals shortly before half-time Game decided quickly. Bern defended poorly against Tielemans and Ramsey in this phase before Onana made it 3-0 shortly before the end.

In the Premier League, Villa are fifth after six matchdays, with four wins, one draw and one defeat. Of the bigger teams, they have only met Arsenal FC, against whom they lost 2-0.

FC Bayern has to be careful: Unai Emery with a positive balance

Under coach Unai Emery, Aston Villa stands for patient possession football in a 4-4-2 (for example against Arsenal and Leicster City) or 4-2-3-1 system (in all other games of the season). The team is usually very well organized, plays a high press whenever possible and also has defensive qualities.

Emery has won the Europa League four times and, alongside José Mourinho, is the only coach to have reached the UEFA Euro League final with three different clubs. He also has a positive record against FC Bayern.

With Paris Saint-Germain he won 3-0 in the group stage, but lost the second leg 3-1. In 2022 he defeated FC Bayern in the quarter-finals of the premier class. Emery won 1-0 and 1-1 with FC Vilarreal.

FC Bayern has to watch out for this Aston Villa player

World champion goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez from Argentina is in the goal. In front of it, an internationally experienced back four defends with Ezri Konsa (England) on the right, Diego Carlos (Brazil) and Pau Torres (Spain) in the middle, and Lucas Digne (France) on the left. The Belgians Amadou Onana and Youri Tielemans play together in defensive midfield. Offensively, Leon Bailey (formerly Leverkusen) on the right, Jacob Ramsey on the left, and Morgan Rogers and Ollie Watkins in the middle pose a goal threat.

A big danger lurks for FC Bayern on the bench. Jhon Durán appeared as a substitute several times, scored the winning goal three times in the Premier League and once to make it 3-1. He and Watkins have each scored four goals this season

Durán died in just 131 minutes of action. He is an outstanding transition player, fast, technically very gifted and very intelligent in finding the right interfaces and spaces. FC Bayern shouldn’t allow themselves a weaker second half against Aston Villa. Maybe the Colombian will start from the beginning.

Tielemans, Digne, Watkins and Rogers (possibly not in the starting line-up) each assisted two goals, highlighting the flexibility in the build-up play. Several players are also dangerous when preparing big chances: Tielemans (5), Digne (4) and Rogers (4) stand out here. Tielemans is also considered the pass king, with 348 successful passes, just ahead of Pau Torres (347), he is the strongest in the team.

Morgan Rogers also stands out for his “progressive carries”, including the ability to clearly move the ball towards the goal in the opponent’s half. In these statistics he is behind FBref with 17 carries, his best at Aston Villa, showing his important role in building up the game if he were to be used. Overall, the tasks and responsibilities are very well distributed and Bavaria has to be very well prepared against the collective.

On average Villa comes loud Sofa score to just 11.5 shots per game, placing them 14th in this ranking in the Premier League. The ball possession (52.3%) and the passing rate (86.7%) are solid, but also not top values ​​in the English league.

So far, they have managed to impress in terms of play: nine of the twelve goals scored came from open play, three times they scored from standard situations. When it comes to goals conceded, Villa conceded six of the nine goals they conceded from open play. That could be a key for the strong Bayern. Aston Villa also manages to often shift the game to midfield: with 45% of ball possession in the midfield zone, Villa leads loudly Whoscored the Premier League. Once again it will be tight in the midfield and it will be crucial who can play or outplay the important spaces well. The half-space is particularly important; here Olise or Gnabry (possibly Coman or even Guerreiro, who moves up) can provide the necessary playful moments. A big noticeable feature in the build-up game is the use of interface passes: Aston Villa is ranked in this ranking according to the official data from the Premier League. This substance has already been used 21 times this season, putting us ahead of strong teams such as Manchester City, Arsenal FC, Liverpool and Chelsea FC.

In addition, the Birmingham team have already scored four goals per capita and are also at the top of the Premier League.

FC Bayern: recipes for success

After the draw, we predicted that the game in Birmingham would be one of the most difficult tasks in the first round of the Champions League. This is not just due to the atmosphere and the game’s historic significance, especially for the local fans. In terms of play, the team has to pay particular attention to Tielemans, but otherwise the strengths are evenly distributed, which requires a real team effort. In addition, Emery has a really top coach on the sidelines. If Bayern can play their own game with a focus on ball possession and high pressing, and the counter-pressing is as successful as it was against Bayer 04 Leverkusen, a lot is still possible in the game. To do this, you can’t get stuck in midfield, you have to avoid passes behind your own defensive line and prepare for opponents who are strong in the air. The key players will certainly be the development players around Joshua Kimmich and Alexander Pavlović, although João Palhinha is also conceivable. In addition, there must be collective defense, including on the flanks, otherwise there is a real danger on the offensive through Bailey, Ramsey, Durán and Watkins.

FC Bayern visiting Aston Villa: Expected lineups

Aston VillaE. Martinez – Konsa, Diego Carlos, Pau, Digne – A. Onana, Tielemans – Bailey, Ramsey – Rogers (Durán) – WatkinsFC Bayern MunichNeuer – Guerreiro, Upamecano, M.-J. Kim, Davies – Kimmich, Pavlovic (Palhinha) – Olise, Musiala, Gnabry (Coman) – Kane

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