Aston Villa’s venture into the Champions League began with a 3-0 win against Young Boys.
Youri Tielemans struck the opener, controlling a John McGinn corner in the box before slamming home on the bounce, through several yellow shirts and into the bottom corner.
Jacob Ramsey doubled the lead before the break, capitalising on a mishap at the back for Young Boys and pouncing on a loose ball before firing into the net.
Ollie Watkins had a strike ruled out in the match, the faintest of handball’s given against the England striker to cut his celebrations short.
Amadou Onana eventually made it 3-0 with a beautifully taken strike a few minutes from time.
Overall, it was the perfect night for the Villans on their Champions League bow.
WHAT A START TO OUR CHAMPIONS LEAGUE CAMPAIGN 💥#YBAVL || #UpTheVilla pic.twitter.com/OCj02TOS79
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) September 17, 2024
Read on to discover what happened on the Midlands side’s return to the top table in Europe.
How it happened
Unai Emery fielded a strong starting XI just a few days after Aston Villa fought back to beat Everton in the Premier League.
The likes of Watkins, Morgan Rogers and McGinn were all called on for the big occasion.
But they were under a lot of pressure in the early stages of the match.
Emiliano Martinez was forced into three good saves inside the opening 15 minutes, stopping a particularly good Ebrima Colley effort from inside the box.
The same man was at it again a few moments later, unleashing a strike from distance that just scraped over the top of the crossbar and had Martinez scrambling.
Villa responded though with captain McGinn firing a half-volley just wide of the goal, after some good work from Watkins to head the ball down for the Scotsman to take on.
And just a few minutes later, they had their breakthrough.
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) September 17, 2024
McGinn pumped a corner deep towards Tielemans, who was lurking in space at the back post.
The former Leicester midfielder did well to take it down and fire into the bottom corner, wheeling off to celebrate with his entire team.
From there, Villa really stepped onto the front foot, pinning Young Boys back into their own half for large spells.
But the hosts still looked dangerous on the counter-attack, particularly through Colley and striker Silvere Ganvoula.
Despite their efforts to remain competitive in the game, Young Boys found themselves 2-0 down.
Ramsey was next on the scoresheet, after reading a back pass from the hosts and eventually scuffing a finish into the back of the net.
HE’S ONE OF OUR OWN AND OUR LEAD IS NOW DOUBLED pic.twitter.com/14LtaTwCv8
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) September 17, 2024
It was turning into a memorable night for Emery’s side and they could have had a 3-0 lead but for the goal being disallowed.
Watkins was next to pounce, firing home but having his celebrations cut short due to a handball, which was spotted by VAR.
After a blistering first half, there was a lot less to report in the second.
With the Premier League club two to the good, they were content to ease off the gas slightly, making it harder for Young Boys to create space in attack.
Substitute Jhon Duran was unsurprisingly a menace when he came on in the second half, seeing a strike ruled out after some great link-up play with Ramsey.
It was another handball against the Villans but two minutes from time, they eventually had their third.
HIM 👑 pic.twitter.com/T1ytWCsA7o
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) September 17, 2024
Onana picked the ball up from Tielemans 30 yards from goal, and took his chance with a strike from distance, which settled into the bottom corner of the net.
It was the perfect way to finish for Villa, who breezed to three points on what could have been a tricky opening night in the Champions League.
There will be much tougher tests to come for them, but this is a night every fan and player will savour for the coming weeks.
