Aston Villa v Bayern Munich Pre Match Thread

[PeterWithesShin]

They'll be lucky to still have a positive goal difference by the time we've finished Withe them.

[adrenachrome]

They'll be lucky to still have a positive goal difference by the time we've finished Withe them.

Shaw thang.

[john2710]

They are a very good side. But we've waited too long to play at this level to be fearful of what might happen. We've earned the right to be here, let's embrace it & enjoy it for what it is, the start of a new journey.

We might witness one of the best nights in our recent history.

[Rory]

4-2 us.

[Accent Guy]

4-2 us.

If we do win, I suspect a scoreline like that won't be far off.

[PeterWithesShin]

From the official Bayern Twitter

"✨ Tommy and his gang have arrived in 𝑩𝒊𝒓𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒉𝒂𝒎 . ✨"

[Demitri_C]

I’m amazed that Pau and Konsa are considered a strong pairing in central defence, despite the evidence.

Its certainly stronger than pau and carlos

Evidence?

You certainly can’t point to goals conceded. Even this season. Never mind last, when it was overwhelmingly in favour of Pau/Carlos.

I’d have thought the amount of goals conceded was quite an important metric for centre-back pairings. Seems not for a lot of people.

You need evidence? Have you not seen the disaster that is konsa at roght back and carlos at cb?

[Towser]

Last name on our squad list.

[Ian.]

I’m amazed that Pau and Konsa are considered a strong pairing in central defence, despite the evidence.

Its certainly stronger than pau and carlos

Evidence?

You certainly can’t point to goals conceded. Even this season. Never mind last, when it was overwhelmingly in favour of Pau/Carlos.

I’d have thought the amount of goals conceded was quite an important metric for centre-back pairings. Seems not for a lot of people.

You need evidence? Have you not seen the disaster that is konsa at roght back and carlos at cb?

Other than the odd game we haven’t been strong in defence since the season before last.

[Risso]

Christ, get a fucking grip.

We've got a 100% record against these absolute chumps.

A journalist tried to make the 100% record joke to Emery in the press conference and quickly wished he hadn’t. Unai didn’t appear to get it and looked like somebody had shat in his shoes.

[jwarry]

In todays Times

I cried when my strike partner Gary died – Villa tributes will be extra special
Gary and I had a telepathic understanding on the pitch and remained friends off it – it’s hard to take that he won’t be with us at Villa Park to celebrate our European Cup-winning team
It is so hard to comprehend that Gary Shaw will not stand alongside us on the pitch before the Champions League match on Wednesday, when Aston Villa pay tribute to our side that lifted the European Cup in 1982. I remember the first time I saw Gary’s shock of blond hair and his finishing, and every Villa fan will have their own cherished memory that will be shared when the team meet Bayern Munich for the first time since that historic final in Rotterdam.

I have a photo at home of the moment I turned around to celebrate scoring the only goal of that final, and Gary’s arms were outstretched and his face lit up in excitement. It always seemed fitting that he started the attack, as we had struck up a telepathic understanding on the pitch. I was his minder and father figure. I was a warrior with a title medal at 29, and felt it my responsibility to look after him when he came through at 19 as the local pin-up boy.

My approach was that if a defender wanted to get to him they needed to come through me first. He would get verbal and physical threats and I taught him my philosophy: “It doesn’t matter how hard they hit you, never let them see you hurt.” The harder I was hit, the more I jumped up and just glared.

Centre backs liked to verbally threaten us, perhaps saying they would break your leg if you go past them. I told Gary that the best way to repay the compliment was by scoring and then telling them: “You missed that, didn’t you?”

Gary started to realise that players were ready to upset him, to put him off his game, as much as trying to mark him. He scored 18 of our combined 38 goals when Villa were crowned champions in 1981, added three in the European Cup run the following season and he opened the scoring when we beat Barcelona in the two-legged Super Cup in January 1983.

Gary got his chance as Brian Little retired because of knee and back injuries. I liked to practise my finishing before the main training session, especially working on the opportunities I had missed in the previous match. Gary joined in and we hit it off. Our bond and understanding was helped by Ron Saunders, the manager, liking to take out the strikers from some practice matches. I was the target man and told Gary to stay near and feed off me. A couple of times I backheeled the ball into his path to score.

Ron used to show tough love to the younger lads, including Gary, Tony Morley and Gordon Cowans. It was only later they realised that he was doing it to keep them grounded. Gary’s hair made him quite striking and he was liked by women. Stan Collymore once said, growing up as a Villa fan, he wanted to dye his hair blond like Gary — but his mum said no.

I’d tell Gary: “Keep your feet on the ground, something could bite you on the backside. You’ve got a long career, concentrate on what we’re doing, namely trying to win the championship for the first time in 71 years since 1910.” He was actually quite shy and sometimes found it difficult to express his emotions. He learnt to relax.
Gary would sometimes phone me, unaware it was the middle of the night where I now live in Perth, Australia. He would apologise: “Oh, oh, sorry”. One time he called saying that his friend wanted to talk to me. “Gary, it’s three in the morning!”

I last saw Gary when I returned to England and did a question-and-answer session with him at the corporate lounges at Villa in October last year. He would joke about me being his minder. I’d like to think he had a lot of respect for me. Fans love to listen to our stories from a bygone era. There is one tale of the European Cup going missing after he took it to Tamworth’s Fox Inn to celebrate and for fans to take photographs. Colin Gibson and Cowans had been playing darts at the time. At closing time a man ran off with the cup and later a man with a cup walked into West Bar Green police station, Sheffield. They called West Midlands police, who initially said they were busy dealing with an emergency — a lost trophy. Once they realised it was the same incident, they went to fetch it.

Another story was of us pouring 26 bottles of champagne into the trophy the night we won. My wife, Kathy, wanted to have a sip and when I passed it to her, she nearly fell out of the hotel window into the canal below. I was hanging on to her and the cup.

Plenty of other tales were flung around when we met for a reunion to mark the 40th anniversary in 2022. I am returning from Australia for Wednesday’s match but it will feel different when we meet up this time. Like many, I cried when I heard that Gary had passed. He was the youngest member of the squad. Even now it is hard to think that he will not be with us on the pitch but the tributes from the stands to honour his life will be extra special.

 

[Axl Rose]

Christ, get a fucking grip.

We've got a 100% record against these absolute chumps.

A journalist tried to make the 100% record joke to Emery in the press conference and quickly wished he hadn’t. Unai didn’t appear to get it and looked like somebody had shat in his shoes.

That was a slightly awkward watch, wasn't it.

[dorsetvillian]

I'm going to the match with my son. He never thought he would see Villa play CL football and was gutted to think he would miss the games as he leaves for a year travelling on the 9th October. So glad to be at the game with him. Meeting on the M5. A three hour drive across Wales for me and even further for him travelling up from Cornwall. We wouldn't miss it for the world. Hopefully a very special night under the lights at Villa Park. I have a 100 % record of Villa against Bayern Munich so hopefully that continues tonight...6

[algy]

Christ, get a fucking grip.

We've got a 100% record against these absolute chumps.

We're going to funeral them and send them back to Oktoberfest as a charred mess in a tupperware box.

Man up*






* at least those of you who are men.

This is the sort of attitude you want to see.

I don’t care how many Mickey Mouse European Cups they think they’ve won, how many German Cups they’ve lifted, how many times they’ve been “champions” of the bundesliga. They’ve only won them because they weren’t up against The Villa.

We’ll beat this bunch of lederhosen-wearing, mustard-licking, opera-composing lager louts - the same as we have done every other time we’ve played them.

[Axl Rose]

I'm going to the match with my son. He never thought he would see Villa play CL football and was gutted to think he would miss the games as he leaves for a year travelling on the 9th October. So glad to be at the game with him. Meeting on the M5. A three hour drive across Wales for me and even further for him travelling up from Cornwall. We wouldn't miss it for the world. Hopefully a very special night under the lights at Villa Park. I have a 100 % record of Villa against Bayern Munich so hopefully that continues tonight...6

Lovely stuff, mate.

Have a belting time