The Club Brugge fans who spotted Tyrone Mings for most of the evening will probably remain silent when their side -Pitch will go up in Villa Park next week.
The last time he played in this stadium, Mings took the ball in his own criminal area and effectively handed the Bruges victory in the competition phase in November. Four months later he made two decisive contributions to put Aston Villa on the edge of the quarterfinals of the Champions League.
With the game barely two minutes old, the header of Mings about the goal created the opener for Leon Bailey. And then with the score on 1-1 and Bruges who pushed for a second, the English international produced a breathtaking interception to prevent the header of Hans Vanaken Emi Martinez. In the last 10 minutes Brandon Mechele's own goal and a penalty from Marco Asensio for Villa.
Mings may have his opponents, but it's hard to question his character. His every touch was taunted, Mings stood up and Villa gave the kind of leadership that they missed so often this season. Villa, apart from a collapse, can look out for a quarter-final draw against Paris Saint-Germain or Liverpool.
Villa Boss Unai Emery used his substitutes as a major effect, while Asensio scored his fifth goal since he came to loan and Matty Cash won the Spot-Kick. From the start, however, Emery left Asensio and went behind Ollie Watkins with a three-man combination of Bailey, Morgan Rogers and Marcus Rashford. He also opted for Axel Disasi on right back, for specialized full-back Matty Cash.
In a raw atmosphere, the home crowd had not forgotten what happened last November, when Mings' Howler presented the victory to the Belgians. When the name of the Villa defender was announced, the Bruges fans cheered. They fascinated so hard when they heard the name of Youri Tielemans, who used to play for Bruges's big rivals Anderscht.
Villa took less than three minutes to silence them, and Tielemans and Mings were the core of it. Mings jumped on the distant pole to lead the free kick of Tielemans back over the goal, where Bailey arrived at the right time to wipe it further from 12 meters about Simon Mignolet. The perfect start.
Rashford was stationed wide on the left and was largely chained by Chemsdine Talbi and Kyriani Sabbe, apart from the ninth minute when he burst out of the flank, collected the return pass from Bailey and saw his effort from a sleek corner blocked blocked blocked.
That turned out to be an essential intervention as Bruges was the same within three minutes, and what a goal it was.
Ardon Jashari was allowed to use the halfway through the line and find Christos Tzolis with a perfect Cross-Field Pass. The Greek wing player teased Disasi before he slipped back in the ball. The underlying point of Maxim de Cuyper was not well followed and the left back ended beautifully and led his first shot in the far corner.
Although Bruges had the first half in the shade and had the lead over the midfield villa, the visitors could usually keep them on arm length. The only scary moment after the goal took place when Mings and Hans Vanaken contained a cross and broke the ball with Talbi. His strike was true, but Emi Martinez made a career to stop shots like it and the Argentinian kept it impressive.
Martinez's next save was easier, while he went to the left early in the second half to catch a piledriger of the excellent Raphael Onyedika who bothered the upper corner.
Passing a part of Bruges's one and two-touch was wonderful but in Ferran Jutgla, they don't have a center-forward on the same wavelength as their creative players. Near the hour Mark Jashari and Vanaken together to release the former Barcelona player, only for Jutgla to take a heavy touch and let them in.
In the meantime, Emery had seen enough. The villa boss at the same time changed almost half of his outfield players and sent Asensio, Cash, Jacob Ramsey and Boubacar Kamara for Rashford, Bailey, Disasi and John McGinn.
And the subs almost made an immediate impression. Asensio met Ramsey's cross with a rising drive that Mignolet could only parry and turned cash.
Then Vanaken came even closer when he went further than Martinez and Mings managed to pick up the situation in one way or another. With the full piece, the middle behind made the least contact on the header and led it wide, and Villa earned a goal, although a corner should have been given. Villa wiggled a little and Tzolis shot from an ideal position in the home fans.
Then Villa was lucky that they needed when the lively Ramsey broke up from the left and found Kamara. The Frenchman's pass caught the Cuyper flat and tried to cut the dangerous cross of Rogers, the sliding Mechele could only distract it along Mignolet.
The night was even better for Villa shortly thereafter when the money was polluted by Tzolis and Asensio hit the penalty in the top right corner of Mignolet.
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