Aston Villa’s players went head to head in Lyon on Monday night as France beat Belgium 2-0 in the Nations League.
Unai Emery will likely have been watching with interest as goals from Randal Kolo Muani and Ousmane Dembele saw France triumph over Belgium.
That is because Aston Villa left-back Lucas Digne was lining up for France after his first call-up for two years, with Amadou Onana and Youri Tielemans playing at the centre of the Belgium midfield.
Digne continued his fine start to the new season with a solid display in his 47th cap, whilst Onana and Tielemans endured a difficult evening up against Ngolo Kante, Manu Kone and Adrien Rabiot.
- READ MORE: What Belgian media said about Aston Villa duo Amadou Onana and Youri Tielemans after France defeat
Aston Villa duo Lucas Digne and Amadou Onana in social media exchange after France beat Belgium
Belgium’s midfield had a very familiar feel for Villa fans with Onana and Tielemans having started all three of the Villans’ Premier League games together so far this season.
However, it would have been strange to see the pair lining up against Digne.
Despite doing battle on the pitch, club relationships resumed at full-time as Digne posted a picture on his Instagram story of him embracing Onana after the game with a heart emoji.
Onana soon responded, sharing the post to his own story with the two-word message ‘mon Lulu’ which loosely translates as ‘my darling’ or ‘sweetheart’.
Digne and Onana team-mates again as Aston Villa prepare for Everton
Emery will be pleased to have seen Digne, Onana and Tielemans get through the hotly-contested Nations League clash unscathed.
- READ MORE: Aston Villa fans react as Amadou Onana competes with Erling Haaland for Premier League award
Now the trio will return to Bodymoor Heath ready to resume Premier League action against bottom of the league Everton in their third 5:30pm Saturday kick-off of the season already.
Having lost their only hone game of the campaign so far 2-0 to Arsenal, Villa will be hoping to give their supporters plenty more to cheer about as they aim to make it three wins from four to start the new season.
Digne, Onana and Tielemans will likely be crucial to that, with Onana and Digne in particular keen to impress against their former clubs.
