Aston Villa 1 v Bayern Munich 0 again Post-Match Thread

[Mister E]

Bailey was warming up on his own with a fitness coach before the game so I'm suspect he had an injury. Had to come on for Ramsey but it was clear he wasn't moving freely. It was like playing with 10 men. Correct decision to take him back off.

I don't think bringing Bailey on as a replacement for Ramsey was a good choice. I'd have preferred to see Buendia or Nedeljkovic come on to provide that defensive strength on the right. Bt - hey ho - we got it right on the night.

[Ads]

The most emotional I've ever felt at a game of football. The huge swell of pride, the absolute genius of the way we set up, the atmosphere to end all atmospheres, it was utterly incredible.

Bayern Munich are entitled bunch. Kimmich picking the ball up and demanding a penalty, Kane doing nothing in the game but attempt to referee it. Upamecano had to walk
 I don't think the referee could have been more biased than if they'd dug up Beckenbauer and given him the yellow shirt.

Bar the last few moments, I felt we kept them at arms length. They're defensively awful and I always felt a goal was coming. Watkins bullied their defence and Duran finished them off.

So many heros. We'll be talking about this game for years to come.

[ADVILLAFAN]

Can't see us resting players even if we're already through.

About 2M per win.

[DB]

Still buzzing after last night. The lad has hardly any sleep after getting back very late but he can't wait to get to school and tell his mates. A match we'll never forget.
Tactical masterclass from super Unai, defended superb and caused problems when we broke. Apart from the save at the and the longer ranger in the 1st half, we kept them at bay. Well done you Villa boys!

[The Edge]

Bailey was warming up on his own with a fitness coach before the game so I'm suspect he had an injury. Had to come on for Ramsey but it was clear he wasn't moving freely. It was like playing with 10 men. Correct decision to take him back off.

I don't think bringing Bailey on as a replacement for Ramsey was a good choice. I'd have preferred to see Buendia or Nedeljkovic come on to provide that defensive strength on the right. Bt - hey ho - we got it right on the night.

Unai Emery got it right on the night.

[Smithy]

So if we put out a strong side vs bologna and can get a win that puts us on 9 points. If we can qualify asap then we can rest players for the league games

Puts us in a real strong position if we can win the next one

Or, in reality we try and win more to finish in the top eight

I don't see us "resting players", but I do hope we see a bit more rotation after the International break.  The Spurs - Brugge - Liverpool stretch of games over 6 days next month will be particularly challenging.

We also have to hope both Ramsey and Onana's injuries are relatively minor.

Given their experience last night, I'd imagine that even more than normal, every player wants to play every minute of every game. 

[dorsetvillian]

What a wonderful nigh and laying down a marker for our return to the top tier of European football. Tired, sore throat, off to work after no more than 4 hours sleep but who cares...

[kippaxvilla2]

Brilliant result well done Villa

Good man Franky.

[remy]

As a 37th in year supporting Villa, probably the greatest night of my life and Remy junior was there too.

Got choked at the programme seeing Gary Shaw’s name.
Manically waving my flag.
Limbs on both goals.
The anthem, the singing, the build up!
The world class saves !
The defending !
The BALLS on SUE to play Phil !
That lobbed goal now on its 500th watch !
That twat referee!
Clean sheet!
We are Bayerns bogey team!
The players of 82 there!
Prince of Wales jumping up and down!
The podcasts yet to listen to!
The (hopefully) media wankfest.
The faces on the blues noses at work today -ha!

[Nii Lamptey]

Been critical of Emi in recent times, but he proved why he's the worlds best last night. Absolute beast of a goalkeeper.
Diego 'Arsenal' Carlos turned up last night, and both he and Pau were majestic in defense.
Digne and Konsa limited any wide threat from Bayern.
Midfield were unbelievable - Youri continues to purr in the middle.
Leon was the only player that looked off it, almost too off it to just be having a bad game - Looked like he was carrying an injury to me?
Philogene was close to my MotM, but I'd have given it to Ollie - He didn't stop running and had the beating of that Bayern defence all night.

....and then of course you have big Jhon, doing big Jhon things.

Not sure how you lot found it, but i found the atmosphere quite strange. We drifted from silent, nervous tension to ear drum busting noise throughout the night. But when we were loud, we were LOUD!

A night that will live long in the memory, but we need to follow it up against Man Utd (and Bologne).

UTV


re. Resting players - Don't forget that we have the three musketeers coming back after the International break. This will give the squad a huge boost - Mings, Kamara and Cash.

[London Villan]

Not sure which thread I posted this on, but Bailing had more strapping on his thigh than I've ever seen a player have on the pitch. It was over an inch thick and was probably 12inch square - more like the type of thing you put on a cut or a wound. No idea what his injury was originally, but it's not a surprise he looked like he was walking on one leg!

[Smithy]

I didn't realise that before last night, Bayern hadn't lost a game in the group/league phase of this competition for FORTY ONE games. The equivalent of an unbeaten season, in the Champions League - in that time they've played teams including Barca, PSG, Atletico, Inter, Man Utd, Spurs.

Here's another stat - Unai has played Bayern three times at home in European competition (PSG, Villarreal, and Villa), and won ALL three games.

[Stu]

Good little article here: https://www.theguardian.com/football/2024/oct/02/aston-villa-lose-their-inhibitions-to-craft-victory-for-new-generation

[ursineultra]

When the CL theme was playing I thought this is enough, we've made it back to big nights at VP, we're at the start of something. Enjoy the ride, lets not make fools of ourselves.

First 10 minutes, kept telling myself to remember it's a miracle we're even here. It's going to be a long night, but still, it's Bayern Munich, of course it's going to be tough.

After the Torres goal, it started to feel like Man City last season, the stage fright left the team and they started to truly play. There's something about this team that you can just feel when it's clicking, when they're all pulling in the same direction. I can't remember a Villa team that was capable of looking so well drilled, so composed. Yes, it isn't always that way (just at the weekend, for instance) but when they are all switched on it really is a thing of beauty.

After Bayern huffed and puffed after half-time but resolved to go nowhere, I started to believe. And my brain is telling me no, Duran can't keep doing what he does, because we're Villa and things like that don't happen to us. But then I remember this isn't that Villa anymore, we have an actual world class manager coaching world class players, a manager who doesn't just stick the same 11 out each week and hope for the best, a manager who sees how a game is going and makes changes. I don't know how many times I'll watch that goal, it was magic.

The goal is magnificent, the noise is unreal. What a night. I don't think it's ever been better than this for me, in 30 long years of watching us.

The whole team was great, Martinez, Torres, Watkins, Tielemans, even Diego, but the star for me was Philogene. To come into this team and play like that, in a role that isn't even really what he's 'known' for, with just minutes of experience at this level behind him, it's unreal.

Speaking to my brother-in-law in Australia this morning, who has suffered through all this shit with me, and seeing how much it meant to his young son, who will hopefully only ever know this version of us, it makes the decades of misery worthwhile.

Thank you Villa, now let's batter yanited, please!

[Percy McCarthy]

Just got up, I can’t believe we beat the 12 players of Bayern.

The officials are no better than the premier league.

Completely bottled the first foul on Ollie as he knew if it was a free-kick it had to be a red card.