Uefa Champions League: Villa make 'statement' win over Bayern as Lille shock Real Madrid

Aston Villa relived the club's greatest ever night with a 1-0 win over German giants thanks to substitute Jhon Duran's late goal

Aston Villa's Jhon Duran, left, and Lucas Digne celebrate at the full-time whistle after a 1-0 win over Bayern Munich at Villa Park on October 2, 2024. PA

Aston Villa inflicted a first defeat on Bayern Munich in the Uefa Champions League group stage since 2017 in what goalkeeper Emi Martinez called a "statement" for the English club.

Villa relived the club's greatest ever night, when Peter Withe's goal in Rotterdam sealed a 1-0 victory over Bayern to lift the European Cup in 1982.

The Birmingham-based club's fortunes have been transformed in less than two years since Unai Emery took charge, catapulting Villa from battling relegation at the bottom of the Premier League to finishing in the top four last season.

Now two games into their first experience since the European Cup was rebranded to the Champions League, they are one of just seven sides with maximum points.

Bayern's previous group stage defeat, 41 games ago, also came at the hands of Emery when in charge of Paris Saint-Germain.

Bayern were stifled by Villa's organisation and hit with the sucker punch by super sub Jhon Duran.

The Colombian lobbed Manuel Neuer 11 minutes from time to score his fifth goal this season after coming off the bench.

Martinez was then needed to make two huge saves in the dying moments as a Bayern side that had averaged over four goals a game since Vincent Kompany took charge were shut out.

"It's a statement but there are still a lot of games to play. We want to qualify in the top eight," said Argentina's World Cup winner Martinez.

"This is the loudest Villa Park that I've heard since I joined the club, that's for sure.

"It's a club that is moving forward. I love playing here, I love the fans. This is a win for them."

Emery's gameplan even won the seal of royal approval. He was afforded an audience with Villa fan Prince William, who was among the more than 40,000 crowd celebrating a famous night.

"I told him the best moment we can pass is days like today," said Emery of his meeting with Britain's future king.

"I don't know where [Villa can go] but we are going to try to enjoy the way. Today we [will] remember how we played, who we played and the Champions League final from 42 years ago. It was a special day."

Forward Morgan Rogers was playing in the Championship earlier this year for Middlesbrough, but is another who Emery has moulded into a player now taking the Champions League in his stride.

"It's a pinch me moment," Rogers said of his meteoric rise. "We're not here to just compete, we're here to try and win games."

Lille shock Real Madrid

Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said criticism of his team was well deserved after their long unbeaten run came to an end in a 1-0 defeat against Lille in France on Wednesday.

"I am very honest. Criticism of us for today's game is fair and correct and we have to accept it. We did not play well in this game," Ancelotti said after Jonathan David's penalty just before half time gave Lille the victory they merited.

It was Real's first defeat in 37 games in all competitions since January and their first in the Champions League since losing to Manchester City in the semi-finals in May 2023.

"This has not happened to us much recently luckily. Our opponents played better than us and deserved to win," added Ancelotti, whose team beat Borussia Dortmund in last season's final to lift their 15th European Cup.

"We had chances at the end but we wouldn't have deserved [a draw]. We have to learn from this. There are things we need to work on."

Ancelotti shrugged off concerns about the potential consequences of the defeat in the new format of the Champions League, which now features 36 teams all together in one pool.

"I think the sadness comes from the feeling given off by the team. You can lose games because this is sport, but the sensations we gave off were not good," said the Italian.

The top eight teams in the standings after every team has played eight games will advance directly to the last 16.

The remaining places in the last 16 will be taken by the winners of play-offs between the teams finishing from ninth to 24th.

Real's next game in three weeks will be at home to Dortmund in a repeat of last season's final. After that they face AC Milan, Liverpool and Atalanta.

Slot target 'special things' at Liverpool

Arne Slot insists he wants to be remembered for “more special things” than setting the record for the best start by a Liverpool boss.

The Dutchman became the first at the club to win eight of his first nine matches after a hard-fought 2-0 victory over Bologna which maintained their 100 per cent Champions League record.

“I don’t draw many conclusions from that but it is nice. So, so many incredible managers have worked here, doing so many special things,” he said.

“The only thing is I don’t hope the only thing people remember me for in one, two or three years – you never know how long I’ll be here – they only say, ‘That is the manager who only won eight of his nine games’.

“I’m hoping to do more special things than winning eight out of nine games.”

Slot was full of praise for man of the match Mohamed Salah, who scored for the ninth time in as many Champions League games with the decisive second – after providing an early assist for Alexis Mac Allister’s first goal in the competition.

“What can I say about Mo?” he said. “What you saw today is what you get. If you bring him often enough into positions like this, he can score a goal. He got a great assist as well.

“If you look at the way he scores it, I can understand everyone is talking about the finish because it was a fantastic finish. He almost had the same one just before.

“Before Wolves, Mo played three games without scoring a goal. In football, it can happen that sometimes in three games you score one, or you don’t score.

“But these players like Mo, like Darwin [Nunez], they will always score their goals if you just keep playing them.”