Ahead of tomorrow evening’s Champions League clash against Bayern Munich we had the pleasure of catching up with a man who knows one or two things about Aston Villa in Dean Saunders. Aston Villa have had a tremendous start to the season and will be looking to make an occasion of the evening. Saunders gave us a preview of one of Villa’s biggest football games in years.
In this article:
- A Night to Remember For Villa Fans
- Emery vs Kompany
- Saunders Sings The Praises Of Martinez
A Night to Remember For Villa Fans
The last time Aston Villa last appeared in the UEFA Champions League was in the 1982–83 season. The season immediately after their famous European Cup victory in 1982, when they beat Bayern Munich in the final. Football works in funny ways. Tomorrow will see Villa hosting high flying Bayern Munich led by Vincent Kompany. Despite just one clean sheet so far this season, Unai Emery’s side can’t stop scoring and Saunders has advised Emery’s troops to embrace the occasion.
“They’ve got to enjoy it. Aston Villa playing Bayern Munich at Villa Park. You’ve got to look forward to games like this. This is why you play football, as a player. As a fan, there will be young Villa fans, 14-15 years of age, in 12 years time they will go – ‘I was at that game, Bayern Munich, Champions League, what a game.’ Seeing star players who play for Bayern Munich, Harry Kane. They’ve got some great players.”
Emery vs Kompany – A Clash Of Styles
The match up between the two sets of players and coaching staff will be an interesting element to the game. Kompany, having played under Pep Guardiola has adopted a possession heavy, progressive style of play whereas Emery likes his teams to press aggressively and high up the pitch with his players expected to close down spaces quickly, win the ball back in advanced areas and create goal-scoring opportunities from turnovers.
“But, Aston Villa’s manager, Unai Emery, has a formula that he uses, home and away, and it has proved to be successful. So, Bayern Munich will know. They’ll go to Villa Park and Vincent Kompany as a manager, he played out from the back last year with Burnley, to their detriment and I’m sure he’ll do the same with the Bayern Munich players. He probably got the job because the ‘powers that be’ said – ‘we like what you do and if you do it with better players, we’ll have you.’
“So they’ll come in and try to play football. And it’s about getting in their faces from kickoff. I would imagine Ollie Watkins starts the charge and everyone gets behind him and he can steal the ball off Bayern Munich and not give them any time on the ball.”
Saunders Sings The Praises Of Martinez
Saunders is also a huge fan of Villa and World Cup winning goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez and feels he will be crucial if Villa are to come away with a result tomorrow night.
“I’m not the manager but my tactic would be to not let Bayern Munich have loads of time on the ball. You can’t let them walk into our half. Let’s get right on top of them and risk playing through them at times. Martinez is in good form. I never played for a good team or managed one that didn’t have a good goalkeeper. To win anything you have to have a good goalkeeper.”
