Football

Aston Villa lead league phase after third straight win to begin Champions League quest

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Joe Lyons
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Joe Lyons Sports Editor

Joe Lyons is a sports writer with years of experience on reputable sports and gambling websites. Joe has also been published by Nottingham Forest, working with the academy and senior teams to produce content on matchdays. He formerly covered the Premier League and EFL as an on-site reporter during the 2020/21 season for Prost International. He is an expert in a range of sports including soccer, basketball, horse racing and American football. Joe specialises in long form content alongside news, tips and betting. Joe has a keen eye for the sports betting industry in the USA which covers the NBA and NFL, tracking and analysing the market as it changes throughout the season.

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Published2 hours ago on October 22, 2024

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Aston Villa

Aston Villa are sitting pretty at the top of the Champions League standings with their third win in a row on Tuesday against Bologna.

Soon after a goalless first-half, John McGinn’s looped free-kick delivery took a favourable bounce and sailed over the head of Bologna goalkeeper Lukasz Skorupski to put the hosts in front.

The Villans continued to pile the pressure upon their Italian visitors and in the 65th minute it was a familiar sight as Jhon Duran bagged once again to double the lead.

The 20-year-old Colombian poked home from Morgan Rogers’ cross to score his seventh goal of the season in just 400 minutes – his second in the Champions League.

According to the best football betting sites, Villa are a 50/1 shot to win the Champions League this season – which would be their second European Cup success after triumph in 1982.

WATCH: Aston Villa 2-0 Bologna Champions League Highlights

Unai Emery’s side are emerging as one of England’s best and they’re the first team to win three games in the competition this season – whilst keeping three clean sheets too.

The West Midlands outfit are top of the Champions League table and they’re one of three sides in history to win their first three outings without conceding alongside Malaga (2012/13) and Leicester City (2016/17).

Emery has the highest win percentage of any manager in Aston Villa history after 95 games in charge, winning 55.57% and he looks like one of the best coaches in Europe.

If a memorable win against Bayern Munich at Villa Park wasn’t enough, the club have enjoyed another sparkling night in Europe. The supporters will pinch themselves, but it’s real.

Around this time in 2018, Aston Villa had fallen to defeat against Norwich in the Championship and dropped to 16th in the table – an incredible comparison to Tuesday night’s events.

Football is the beautiful game and stories like this do it great justice.