Aston Villa kicked off their Champions League campaign with a 3-0 win away at Swiss champions Young Boys on Tuesday evening.
Unai Emery took his Aston Villa players to Switzerland knowing it was crucial to start strong in the Champions League.
Young Boys’ artificial pitch made the game a unique challenge and Villa took a while to get used to the unconventional surface as the home side started the stronger of the two teams.
Villa grew into the game and went ahead on 27 minutes through a well-worked set-piece goal from Youri Tielemans after a short corner led to John McGinn finding him with a perfect cross.
The lead was doubled in bizarre circumstances as Ollie Watkins read a back-pass to nip in ahead of the goalkeeper who kicked through him in what would have been a penalty but Jacob Ramsey reacted sharply to get the loose ball and slot into the gaping goal.
Villa took the sting out of the game in the second half and were cruising to victory as Amadou Onana wrapped up the win with a late strike to make it 3-0 in Bern for the perfect start to their Champions League campaign.
Aston Villa player ratings against Young Boys
Emi Martinez – 6
Needed with a couple of decent interventions early on as Young Boys applied pressure.
Good handling and will be happy with the clean sheet but little to do after the opening exchanges.
Lamare Bogarde – 5
A huge occasion for 20-year-old Lamare Bogarde and he was made to look a little silly early on as Jaouen Hadjam beat him all ends up to get onto the box but nothing came of it.
Settled down slightly as the first-half went on but was replaced by Diego Carlos at half-time on a difficult night.
Ezri Konsa – 7
Really comfortable night for both of Villa’s centre-backs after surviving some early pressure and Konsa looked very much at home.
Shifted to right-back when Bogarde went off at half-time and coped better than the youngster.
Pau Torres – 7
Like Konsa, had little to do and will have far tougher nights in the Champions League this season. Solid and good on the ball but rarely troubled.
Lucas Digne – 7
Lucas Digne was the player in the Villa starting XI with the most Champions League experience and it showed as he looked composed.
Got forward well down the left and delivered some good crosses, whilst the left-back had little to worry about from a defensive perspective.
Amadou Onana – 7
Another one who was comfortable if not spectacular as he provided a defensive screen in front of the defence and allowed Tielemans to set the tempo.
That was until he fired a strike into the bottom corner late on the game to seal the win.
Youri Tielemans – 8
Youri Tielemans continued his fine start to the season with Villa’s first goal in Europe’s elite cub competition since 1983.
A corner straight from the training ground found him with space just inside the box before he controlled and fired into the fire corner.
Neat and tidy in the midfield as we have come to expect and worked hard without the ball too. Currently one of the first names on the team sheet for Emery.
Jacob Ramsey – 8
Came inside regularly from a wide left starting position to find pockets of space to cause Young Boys problems and linked up nicely with Morgan Rogers throughout.
Put Villa 2-0 up as he was first to a ball that had squirmed out from under Watkins and had another decent effort saved.
John McGinn – 6
Wasted a decent opportunity after Ollie Watkins brought him into play early on but quickly made amends with the assist for Tielemans to kick-start Villa’s Champions League campaign.
Slightly sloppy at times with his passing and didn’t have too much of an impact in an attacking sense but a solid enough showing.
Morgan Rogers – 8
Morgan Rogers continued in the second striker position he has adopted this season and started to really get going as Villa asserted their dominance.
A little too unselfish for his own good at times as he looked for Watkins rather than going for goal himself but is a real sight to behind when he drives with the ball and caused Young Boys constant problems.
Ollie Watkins – 6
Again preferred to Jhon Duran up front and showed some neat touches in the first half as Villa struggled to get him into the game.
Was played through shortly after the Villa opener but couldn’t get the ball out of his feet before dragging his effort well wide and then was key to Ramsey’s goal as he was alert enough to read the Young Boys back-pass.
Thought he had scored a third for Villa just before half-time but saw it cruelly ruled out by VAR for a handball.
Still not quite happening for him despite a brace at the weekend and was replaced by Duran on 59 minutes.
Substitutes:
Diego Carlos – 6
Jhon Duran – 6
Ross Barkley – N/A
Ian Maatsen – N/A
Emi Buendia – N/A
