The biggest names in this season's European football are on high alert as 16 teams battle it out for a spot in the Quarter Finals. And what a game awaits, as Club Brugge will be taking on Aston Villa in the Round of 16. Here's what you need to know ahead of our second game of the season against the Villans.
The Fixture
On Tuesday, Club Brugge and Aston Villa will be kicking off the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 at Jan Breydel.
Some European stats prior to the game:
- For the 372nd time, Club will be manning the pitch on the European stage, whereas Aston Villa is up for a 96th fixture.
- This will be the 130th encounter between a Belgian and an English outfit.
- Blue & Black will be playing in the UCL for a 107th time, the 73rd starting from the group stages.
- A first appearance for Aston Villa in the UCL, whereas Club already featured in 10, making this the 11th.
In 31 encounters with English teams so far, Club won 7 at home, drew three times and suffered four defeats.
Aston Villa will be crossing swords with a Belgian team for the 6th time, and never has it been able to win on Belgian turf (1D 2L).
For the first time in history, Club Brugge will be playing the same team twice in Europe, after it had already hosted the game in UCL League Phase earlier on.
Match Day 4 will spark a smile in many a Club fan as on 6 November the two teams headed for the pitch at Jan Breydel:
- With a 3 out of 9 from the first three games, Club Brugge started the game with a win against Sturm Graz and defeats at the hands of Borussia Dortmund (Ger) and AC Milan (Ita).
- At that point, Villa had had a perfect run, without even conceding against Young Boys (Sui), Bayern München (Ger) and Bologna FC (Ita).
- An upset win for Club, as it beat Villa 1-0, after a crazy penalty situation, duly converted by Hans Vanaken.
- The victory proved the foundations of Club's qualification, as the team remained unbeaten for three more games (1W 2D).
- The win was a first in 16 games against an English opponent.
Having beaten Atalanta BC twice in the meantime, Club Brugge has made it to five wins this season in the UCL, equaling the club record of 1978, when Club made it to the Finals at Wembley after five wins.
Coming in at 16 points, Aston Villa followed up that defeat at Jan Breydel with 7 out of 12, earning them a spot in the Top 8 and allowing them to skip the knockout play-offs.
28 match days down the track, Aston Villa is now in tenth position in the Premier League. On Tuesday, the team suffered an emphatic 4-1 defeat at the hands of Crystal Palace. Making up for a first half Sarr goal, Morgan Rogers put the socre in balance after the break, but the hosts went on to win it after goals by Mateta, again Sarr and Nketiah.
The FA Cup saw more glory for Aston Villa on Friday, beating Cardiff City FC 2-0 through two goals by Marco Asensio. Next up will be Preston North End in the Quarter Finals.
Aston Villa's Ollie Watkins is the team's top scorer with 13 goals, finding his way to the nets on 12 occasions in the Premier League, adding one in the UCL. He also tops the assist table (11).
From the team that had made its way to Jan Breydel back in November, 5 have left Aston Villa during the Winter window:
- Columbian striker Jhon Durán headed for Al-Nassr (KSA).
- Serbian defender Kosta Nedeljkovic is out on loan to RB Leipzig (Ger).
- Brazilian defender Diego Carlos made the move to Fenerbahçe (Tur).
- Jau Gauci (Eng) [out on loan to Barnsley (Eng)] and Jaden Philogene [Ipswich Town (Eng)], both on the bench in that game, also left the club.
The team found new blood in:
- Winger Donyell Malen, bought from Borussia Dortmund. He joined the Germans as they beat Club in September.
- Winger Marcus Rashford, on loan from Manchester United. He joined England on a number of occasions as they took on Belgium, the World Cup of 2018 one of them.
- Striker Marco Asensio, on loan from Paris Saint-Germain. He joined Real Madrid in three UCL wins.
- Right back Andrés García from Levante.
- Central defender Axel Disasi, on loan from Chelsea FC. He played AA Gent earlier this season.
In charge at Villa is Spanish coach Unai Emery. He has made quite the mark so far in Europe, and Aston Villa will be the fourth team he has lead to the UCL final phase after Valencia CF, Paris Saint-Germain and Villarreal CF. Only 3 managers managed this feat so far with even more teams: Carlo Ancelotti (6), José Mourinho (6) and Claudio Ranieri (5).
Two compatriots regularly play at Aston Villa:
- Youri Tielemans, fighting it out with Club in Europe for a third time, having visited Jan Breydel back in 2018 with AS Monaco (1-1).
- Amadou Onana got stuck to the bench in the last encounter. He will also be missing out on tonight's game, out injured.
With two goals so far, Chemsdine Tabli and Ferran Jutglà top the UCL scorers table for Club. Most assists came from Jutglà (2) too.
Club could equal its record of three consecutive UCL wins, after it had already done so in 2023.
Out suspended for last weekend's game at Gent, Christos Tzolis will be available once again. 5 players are in the danger zone and will miss out on their game at Villa Park should they concede another booking: Joaquin Seys, Michal Skoras, Hugo Vetlesen, Christos Tzolis and Raphael Onyedika. The same goes for Villa's Lucas Digne and Boubacar Kamara.
The winner of this fixture is set to play the winners of the game between Paris Saint-Germain and Liverpool FC.
Milestones
- A possible 100th game for Maxim De Cuyper!
- Ardon Jashari could be wearing the Club jersey a tenth time in Europe.
- Both Christos Tzolis and Gustaf Nilsson are up for a 25the European game in their career. Club's mighty Greek joined PAOK FC (Gre, 10), FC Twente (Neth, 4) and Club Brugge KV (Bel, 10) in Europe so far.
- For our Swede, the record holds 19 Union SG games, and 5 Club Brugge KV games.
The Man in Black
The man in charge at a vibrant Jan Breydel is hailing from Portugal. Mr. João Pedro Silva Pinheiro will be backed by his linesmen, Mr. Bruno Miguel Alves Jesus and Mr. Luciano António Gomes Maia. Fourth official will be Mr. João António Ferreira Gonçalves, and in charge of VAR will be Mr. Tiago Bruno Lopes Martins, backed by Mr. Pol van Boekel.
Observing for UEFA will be Mr. Roberto Rosetti, while Mr. Zgjim Sojeva will be representing UEFA.
Mr. João Pinheiro is a 37 year old UEFA elite ref from Vila Nova de Famalicão, in the North East of Portugal. He has been in charge of games at the highest level in Portugal since 2015, and has been a FIFA ref since 2016. It will be a first for him at Jan Breydel, after he has already handled the whistle in Union SG's game vs Fenerbahçe (0-3) earlier this year.
For the 17th time, a Portuguese ref will be in charge of a European game involving Club Brugge.