Aston Villa dominated by ManCity – this is YB’s opponent

Five years ago, Aston Villa was in the second division Championship and is about to make its debut in the Champions League – thanks to a lot of talent, even more money and a coach who knows how to combine the two. This Tuesday (6.45 p.m.) the Villans will face YB.

“They have a very clear plan of how they want to play with the ball, they are very variable.” They can play out from the back, dominate the midfield, and are dangerous in the last zone.” Anyone listening to Patrick Rahmen at the press conference in Wankdorf on Monday evening might think he was talking about FC Barcelona in the days of Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta, Xavi and Sergio Busquets. But the coach of the Bernese Young Boys is enthusiastic about the Swiss champions’ first opponent in this year’s Champions League campaign, Aston Villa. And there are good reasons for that.

Seldom has a team been so dominated by Pep Guardiola as on December 6th last year. Although Aston Villa only won 1-0, Unai Emery’s team played the champions from Manchester against a wall – not just in phases, but for 90 minutes. 22:2 shots on goal reflected this.

A week later, Aston Villa also beat league leaders Arsenal, laying the foundation for qualifying for the Champions League for the first time. 68 points were enough for fourth place in the end. The Villans were better placed in the Premier League for once – when the league was introduced in 1992/93.

Difficult times

It seemed illusory not so long ago that the traditional club from Birmingham would make it to the top echelons of European football. Aston Villa is one of the most important clubs in the country; the club has won the Champions Cup once and the league title and the FA Cup seven times each. But those successes were more than 40 years ago.

Aston Villa were relegated from the Premier League in 2016 and needed three seasons to recover from the shock. Even after returning to the top flight, the club languished in the lower midfield. It was only with the arrival of Unai Emery, who succeeded the hapless Steven Gerrard on the coaching bench in November 2022, that success returned to Villa Park. The meticulous Basque led the team from 13th place to 7th place and thus into the European Cup. The breakthrough finally came last season.

With him came success: coach Unai Emery.Image: keystone

A thick wallet

As much as the success bears the signature of Unai Emery, Aston Villa’s upswing is linked to the names Nassef Sawiris and Wes Eden. Since the Egyptian entrepreneur and the American bargain hunter took over the club in 2018, the money has been sitting in the safe deposit box in England’s second-largest city. Over the last five years, the two billionaires have invested almost 800 million euros in new players.

The signings of striker Ollie Watkins and winger Leon Bailey in particular proved to be crucial to Aston Villa’s success. The Englishman Watkins scored 40 points last season, while Jamaican Bailey scored 14 goals and assists. This summer, the proceeds from the sales of Douglas Luiz and Moussa Diabay were invested in midfielder Amadou Onana and left-back Ian Maatsen, among others. This alone costs over 100 million euros. By comparison, Young Boys spent less than 30 million euros on the transfer market in the same period.

With a transfer fee of over 59 million euros, Amadou Onana is the Villans’ record purchase.Image: www.imago-images.de

However, it is not just the individual quality that is worth highlighting, says Rahmen. “The team is very well put together. In every position, the player has a profile that fits the coach’s game idea.” Aston Villa are strong in terms of play and physicality and are well organized, hardly allowing any moments of transition. It will be difficult to create chances. “But we have already seen one or two things,” Rahmen says at the end of his plea.

With a clear head into the Champions League

There is no need to talk up the opponents. Although Aston Villa qualified for the Champions League for the first time ever, the traditional English club from Birmingham is the clear favorite in the match against the Swiss champions. While the “Villans” have started the new championship well with just three wins from four matches, YB is still waiting for its first win in the Super League after six rounds and is in last place with three points.

YB is not yet doing well nationally under Patrick Rahmen.Image: fxp-fr-sda-rtp

“We are not living up to expectations and we have to act and react,” they say about the situation in the domestic league. Mentally, it is easier to play in the Champions League than in the championship, where the pressure is much higher.

It’s a similar story with Filip Ugrinic. The attacking midfielder, who has been leading the way on the pitch since before this season, is “very excited” about the Champions League. “I always get goosebumps when I hear the anthem.” Everyone should enjoy this stage, which they have earned through two composed performances against Galatasaray.

The cup victory as a good omen

Good omen: Before the first leg of the playoffs in their home Wankdorf, the Young Boys made it through to the next round in the cup. They showed their class against second division team Printse-Nendaz and celebrated a never-in-doubt 10-0 victory, but Patrick Rahmen’s team had to stretch themselves more on Saturday in Vevey, but still won 4-2 after leading 2-0 and equalizing. “From the Promotion League upwards, there are no easy opponents who all have quality,” said the YB coach. The reaction they showed after the equalizer was important. “It shows that we are on the right track and that the team stands up for each other.”

In the cup, the Bernese were able to gain some self-confidence.Image: keystone

But is that enough to prevail against one of the best teams in the Premier League? “We can orient ourselves on the opponent.” “That makes it easier to act beyond the circumstances,” says Rahmen. Ugrinic adds: “With the atmosphere here in the Wankdorf, we have already experienced some magical European Cup nights.” Hopefully Tuesday will be one of those too.” Even without Messi, Iniesta and Xavi. (nih/sda)

September 16, 1995: Rolf Fringer, the then VfB Stuttgart coach, is invited to the ZDF’s “Aktuelles Sportstudio”. There, the Swiss-Austrian dual citizen shines with five direct hits on the goal wall. No one has ever managed more.

Three up, three down. The rules on the goal wall are simple. Getting the six balls into the 55 centimetre diameter holes is all the more difficult. In over 40 years, not one of the six has been transformed.