Aston Villa returned to the Champions League stage with a bang.
Everyone in Claret & Blue colours has been building up for this moment for a long time, with Aston Villa opening their Champions League story by beating Young Boys 3-0 on Tuesday.
What was interesting is that Unai Emery decided to name an unchanged side from the team that secured a brilliant 3-2 victory over Everton at the weekend.
Jhon Duran has been unbelievable for Villa, but Emery still decided to stick with Ollie Watkins to lead the line.
After a positive start from the home team, the Midlands side started taking control, before Youri Tielemans opened the scoring after 27 minutes.
The 1982 European Cup winners then started to steamroll their opponents, with Young Boys making a mess of the second goal, which was scored by one of our own, Jacob Ramsey.
Villa had two goals disallowed – Watkins and Duran – for handball, before Amadou Onana netted his third goal of the season with a stunning finish on the edge of the box.
It was an easy night for Emery and his boys, with three points secured and now fans eagerly looking forward to that Champions League clash.
Watkins was subbed off after an hour, with Duran coming on, but then worrying pictures emerged.
BBC Sport reported that ‘cameras have just showed Ollie Watkins sitting on the bench with ice on his ankle’, and then pictures emerged of him looking glum on the bench.
Is Ollie Watkins injured?
Jhon Duran ready to start
Watkins dropped out of England duty recently, with the striker carrying something from the summer, after featuring at Euro 2024.
He didn’t have any pre-season, so that didn’t help matters and now you are hoping there isn’t anything building up, in regards to a long-term injury.
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Perhaps it’s time for Emery to rotate, Duran is knocking and knocking that door down. He has to start sooner rather than later.
And with Villa playing Wolves at the weekend, then Wycombe in the League Cup, the team can afford to rest their star striker, if need be.
