After 42 years: Painful parallels at Aston Villa reunion

As if  there hadn't already enough history going into the game, a copy of the Champions League trophy had been placed right in the middle of the players' tunnel. Aston Villa and Bayern Munich had only once faced each other in this European Cup before Wednesday evening, and that was 42 years ago. Painful  as it was for Bayern Munich, the 1:0 defeat in Rotterdam marked the highlight of Aston Villa's European cup history and forever remains ingrained in the hearts of football fans in Birmingham. 1982 and a European Cup are incidentally painted on the outside of the stadium's Holte End.

The historic reunion with the final opponents of 1982 at Trinity Road marked a very special evening in Birmingham's football history. Following a remarkable season with wins over Manchester City, Arsenal, Chelsea or Tottenham as table leaders, Aston Villa celebrated it's return to European football against Bayern Munich, of all teams. “For me, it was important how we present ourselves. How close can we get to one of the best teams in the world,” commented Unai Emery after the game.

“A sad, bitter evening”

The answer was pretty close, as his team celebrated a 1:0 win It was a “sad and bitter evening,” Bayern CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen commented at the club's traditional midnight banquet in the “The Belfry” hotel.

Once again, Bayern Munich had dominated most of the game and created several good opportunities to score, but  Villa's goal seemed cursed. In 1982, backup goalkeeper Nigel Spink had frustrated Bayern Munich, this time it was the turn of Emiliano Martínez to keep the guests at bay. The Argentinian World Champion deflected a great shot by Michael Olise over the crossbar (39') and, miraculously, managed to block a Harry Kane header from seven yards in injury time.

Strong central defence again

From the start, Bayern showed a similar performance to the exhausting Bundesliga top match against Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday evening, as Vincent Kompany's team attacked the opposition goal early. Subsequently, Bayern quickly looked the stronger team of the night. Aston Villa chose a more cautious approach and, just like Leverkusen, relied on fast transitional moments and long balls towards their attackers. However, Villa failed to create promising chances as Minjae Kim and Dayot Upamecano  managed to clear everything on the ground and in the air even faintly resembling danger with strong, physical performances. 

A moment that  took away some of Bayern's confident superiority came with an offside goal by Aston Villa which, while disallowed, managed to temporarily shift momentum in the now deafening Villa Park. While both teams had been welcomed with fireworks and flames before the game, the air was suddenly getting hot for Bayern Munich.

“The first quarter of an hour was good, we took the momentum on board,” Bayern coach Vincent Kompany analysed. “But then we lost our rhythm for 30 minutes.”  Villa now looked more comfortable but failed to create dangerous chances. When Serge Gnabry ran alone towards goal and missed from a tight angle, Bayern seemed to regain control before half-time. What was still missing from the game was a goal. “We didn’t play a bad game, although not our best, but that can happen in football,” Bayern captain Manuel Neuer said.

Kingsley Coman together with Konrad Laimer had replaced Raffael Guerreiro and Jamal Musiala in the starting formation and was taken off at half-time. “We talked about how we felt we were always one step too late,” said Kompany. And his team obviously understood the message. Back on the pitch, Bayern immediately created the same initial dominance and pushed harder and harder towards the home teams goal in front of the Holte End. In the end, however, the Reds failed to create enough dangerous goal chances. “It was one of those evenings when the final ball doesn’t come, or the shot doesn’t go in the net,” Bayern top scorer Harry Kane proved frustrated.

A shot to the Bavarian football heart

Michael Olise had three chances in quick succession (57'), Serge Gnabry (67') and Harry Kane's late header as well as a blocked shot by Dayot Upamecano were some of Bayern Munich's 17 attempts on Villa's goal. While Bayern lacked the finishing touch and possibly a bit of luck, Aston Villa used their fifth and final shot of the evening to deliver a blow straight into the heart of Bavarian football. Jhon Duran managed to escape Bayern's defenders and  lob a shot over the head of Manuel Neuer who had left his box (79').

“You mustn’t lose these games,” analysed Board Member for Sport Max Eberl. “We have to learn from this, that we can’t win at this level by giving any less than 100 per cent.” While the guests left the pitch disappointed, the home fans were singing “It's happening again.” And yet, as Vincent Kompany expressed: “We didn't lose the Champions League today.” It was only the second game of the Champions League season and “we are all nevertheless happy about the way we're playing football again,” Jan-Christian Dreesen finally closed the evening.