Aston Villa centre-back Tyrone Mings watched on as his side secured an incredible 1-0 victory over Bayern Munich in the Champions League.
Tyrone Mings will have been proud of his Aston Villa teammates after they earned a memorable 1-0 win against Bayern Munich thanks to Jhon Duran’s fine finish.
Mings is still yet to play for Villa in the Champions League and hasn’t played any first-team minutes since suffering an ACL injury against Newcastle United in August 2023.
The 31-year-old will be chomping at the bit to play his part for Unai Emery, with Mings recently returning to full Aston Villa training.
Since the towering defender last played in claret and blue, a lot has changed, with the Villa defender noticing a huge difference.
Tyrone Mings shares the ‘big difference’ he’s seen in Aston Villa teammates recently
For most of his playing career at Villa, Mings was involved in a relegation battle in the Premier League and it wasn’t till Emery arrived that they started challenging for Europe.
Mings played a vital role towards the end of the 2022/23 campaign, as the Villans finished in seventh position and qualified for the Europa Conference League.
Sadly, injury prevented the towering centre-back from experiencing European football and there’s a huge difference in the team since he last played.
Instead of being the side that dreams of Champions League football, Villa are amongst the hectic fixture schedule, with Mings knowing full well he has to get up to speed very quickly.
Speaking to Rio Ferdinand before Villa’s clash against Bayern (TNT), Mings said: “The big difference when I do come back will be that we’re not trying to get somewhere, we’ll actually be in amongst it.
“We’ve always been, since the manager came in, we were trying to get to Europe, we were trying to get to the Champions League, we were trying to combine European football with Premier League football and the schedule which is new to a lot of us, I still haven’t done it but those guys have.
“The difference is when you come back they’re in amongst it, in the thick of it and you’ve got to get up to speed very quickly but the manager is top class.”
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When Tyrone Mings will return for Aston Villa
For Mings and fellow midfielder Boubacar Kamara, it can’t have been easy watching their teammates qualify for the Champions League and now dismantle Bayern.
But both players are closing in on a return to action. Emery plans on giving Mings and Kamara minutes in the under-21s with the Villa boss expecting them to be in contention after the international break.
Mings will be battling with Diego Carlos, Pau Torres and Ezri Konsa for first-team minutes while Kamara has been lauded as ‘crucial’, and should slot alongside one of Youri Tielemans or Amadou Onana.
Villa will need a fully fit squad to go deep into every competition, meaning every player’s availability will be pivotal.
