Unai Emery’s side were defeated in their opening fixture of the UEFA Europa Conference League, with one dud having a night to forget
Aston Villa suffered a shock defeat in their opening fixture in the UEFA Europa Conference League, as Unai Emery’s side fell 3-2 to Legia Warsaw in Group E at the Stadion Wojska Polskiego.
The Villans were far from at their best from the off, as the hosts went ahead after just three minutes through Pawel Wszolek.
By the time the first half came to a close, four goals had been scored, with the scoreline at the interval reading 2-2 in what was a scrappy 45 minutes of football by Villa’s standards.
Six minutes into the second half and the Midlands side were behind again, as Ernest Muci scored the goal to put his club ahead with a goal that prevailed as the match-winner.
Journalist Tom Collomosse branded Villa’s defensive display as “chaotic”, which was a fair judgement for the make-shift back line that suffered at the hands of its wide channels.
After a number of positive performances at the start of the 2023/24 campaign, it seemed as though Lucas Digne had rediscovered his form, however tonight the Frenchman had a poor night defensively.
The left-back was at fault for the match-winner, giving the ball away to Legia’s live wire Muci who went on to bury the ball past Emi Martinez.
Luckily for the 30-year-old, the narrative of his game will be told through his exquisite volley scored to level the game at 2-2, taking away from his terrible handling of the host’s wide threat.
Digne lost possession a whopping 17 times on the night and won none of his three attempted ground duels, via Sofascore. However, he was not the only full-back that was atrocious in claret and blue.
Described as “horrific” by journalist Josh Norris for his performance, Calum Chambers had a tough night at right-back in what was his first start of the season.
The former Arsenal man looked way off the pace of the game and was constantly caught out of position, with Norris dubbing his positional choices as “wild” as he frequently ventured aimlessly upfield.