Aston Villa made it three wins from three when they beat Bologna in the Champions League on Wednesday night.
Before a ball was kicked in Europe’s elite competition, the Aston Villa fans would have accepted a play-off finish to then provide them with a chance to qualify for the knockout rounds.
But, as of this moment, and this is before Wednesday’s Champions League games, they are sitting on top of the Champions League tree and they are the only team with a 100% record, so far.
Unai Emery is doing wonders at Villa, with his team showing even more maturity and squad strength for the win over Bologna.
Several changes were made from Villa’s win over Fulham, including Ian Maatsen, Ezri Konsa, John McGinn and Jhon Duran coming into the XI.
All of them impressed, including captain McGinn and livewire Duran getting the crucial goals, with Youri Tielemans offering his flowers to one individual, in particular.
Youri Tielemans says Jhon Duran has ‘everything’
For Villa to be able to bench Ollie Watkins, an England international and one of Europe’s best strikers, says it all about the team’s depth in quality.
But Emery was able to do that and Duran didn’t disappoint as he caused Bologna’s backline endless problems.
Tielemans stated that the 20-year-old has ‘everything’ to his game and he is an ‘all-round’ striker, as he told TNT Sports (22/10/24).
The Belgium international added that Emery ‘doesn’t care’ about Duran looking annoyed at being subbed off after he scored because ‘he knows everyone wants to play’.
“Duran has everything,” waxed Tielemans. “He has technique, he can hold the ball and can flick on. He is an all-round striker. Morgan [Rogers] is more suited to the pockets. I joke with him calling him my pocket as I need him in those areas to get to my passes.
On Duran reaction to sub: “He is really funny. The manager does not care. He knows everyone wants to play. It is part of the game.”
Jhon Duran can’t stop scoring
For any type of player to have his record is pretty incredible, but for a 20-year-old to produce that is even more impressive.
Whether it be from the bench or when he is starting. Duran is scoring again, again and again. This depth in goalscoring could prove to be huge for the club come the end of the season.
From Duran’s 12 matches in all competitions, he has seven goals to his name, despite not even playing 500 minutes of football.
| Competition | Games played | Goals | Assists | Yellow Cards | Minutes played | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Premier League | 8 | 4 | – | – | 199′ | |
| UEFA Champions League | 3 | 2 | – | – | 115′ | |
| EFL Cup | 1 | 1 | – | – | 90′ | |
| Total 24/25: | 12 | 7 | – | 3 | 404′ | |
