Unai Emery will undoubtedly be disappointed that his Aston Villa side dropped points against Ipswich Town on Sunday.
However, with Bayern Munich coming to Villa Park on Wednesday night there is no time to dwell on that 2-2 draw away at newly-promoted Ipswich.
Aston Villa were far from their best against Ipswich and were perhaps a little fortunate to take a point in the end, leaving Unai Emery with a number of decisions to make ahead of a huge clash against German giants Bayern.
Villa won their first game in the Champions League 3-0 against Young Boys whilst Bayern blew away Dinamo Zagreb in a remarkable 9-2 win; Harry Kane scoring four goals on the night.
Emery has kept a pretty settled side so far this season but he could be tempted to make one key change to the Villa starting XI for Bayern.
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Ian Maatsen should replace Lucas Digne as Aston Villa face Bayern Munich
Qualifying for the Champions League meant Villa could target a higher calibre of player this summer and that saw them spend £50 million on Amadou Onana.
It also resulted in Ian Maatsen joining from Chelsea having played in the Champions League final whilst on loan at Borussia Dortmund last season.
It is Maatsen’s time at Dortmund that could see Emery decide to throw him in for Lucas Digne against Bayern as the left-back was part of the Dortmund side that did not just beat Bayern in April but kept a clean sheet in a 2-0 win.
Maatsen has so far only started in the Carabao Cup since joining Villa as Digne has rose to the competition, but the fact he kept Leroy Sane at bay last season may mean Emery considers bringing him into the side for the mouthwatering home tie.
Bayern Munich clash will give real indication own where Aston Villa are at
Bayern are one of the biggest clubs in world football and Villa fans lucky enough to be at Villa Park on Wednesday night may well find themselves pinching themselves.
When Emery took over from Steven Gerrard in late 2022, Villa were in real threat of relegation and yet on Wednesday night they will welcome the likes of Manuel Neuer, Jamal Musiala and Kane to the Midlands.
By their exceptionally high standards, Bayern had a poor season last time around as they finished third in the Bundesliga but they still made it to the Champions League semi-final before losing out to Real Madrid.
Bayern have won six of their seven games in all competitions to start the new campaign, with the only blip on that record the 1-1 draw with last season’s Bundesliga winners Bayer Leverkusen at the weekend.
Villa have shown already across the past year that they can mix it with England’s finest but the Bayern match will be an indicator of where the club are at in comparison with Europe’s elite.
