Aston Villa's Champions League Return: Key Decisions and Challenges Ahead

Aston Villa return to the Champions League on Tuesday with the glow of last season’s European triumph dimmed by a stuttering start and a summer of upheaval that still hangs in the air.

They go to Club Brugge hunting not nostalgia, but a first win of the 2026-27 campaign. No trophy from the UEFA Super Cup. One point from three Premier League games. A team that conquered Europe now looks like it’s searching for itself.

Emery under the microscope

Unai Emery built his reputation on European nights, on navigating tricky away ties and squeezing every drop out of his squad. This time, the questions are about who he has left out.

The omission of Brian Madjo and Taylor Harwood-Bellis from Villa’s league-phase squad has raised eyebrows. Madjo, remember, hit two goals against Paris Saint-Germain in the Super Cup and looked like a man made for this stage. Yet he’s not even in the picture for Europe now – and even if he were, he wouldn’t be available.

Madjo joins Swiss World Cup star Johan Manzambi and long-term absentee Amadou Onana on the treatment table. Three significant losses, three players who could have changed the rhythm of a game in an instant.

The scrutiny on Emery is unusual, but it’s real. Leave out a fan favourite and you need results to silence the debate. Those results have not come yet.

Suspensions, returns and big calls

There is some relief for the Basque coach. Joao Gomes, currently serving a three-match domestic suspension, is free to feature in Europe and should restore some bite in midfield.

This trip to Bruges could also be the first glimpse of Villa’s reshaped core. Leon Goretzka, still waiting to pull on the club’s famous claret and blue, is an option from the bench. If the game tightens or Villa need control, his debut may finally arrive under the floodlights.

Out wide, Ibrahim Mbaye is pushing hard for a starting role. The former PSG winger offers pace and direct running, the sort of threat that can unsettle a home crowd that expects its side to dominate. If Mbaye starts, either rookie forward George Hemmings or busy playmaker Emi Buendia is likely to step aside. That’s a different kind of decision for Emery: youthful energy or proven guile?

Up front, the picture is clearer, even if the performances haven’t been. Record signing Nicolas Jackson is expected to lead the line again. He has not caught fire yet, but with Madjo injured and Tammy Abraham apparently out of favour, the path is open for Jackson to prove why Villa spent big.

Behind him, new number one Zion Suzuki should continue in goal. A fresh face between the posts, a new hierarchy established. These are Emery’s calls, and he is doubling down on them.

Full-back battles and Bruges scars

The competition doesn’t stop in attack. At full-back, Matteo Ruggeri and Aaron Wan-Bissaka are pushing to dislodge Matty Cash and Ian Maatsen. Maatsen carries a positive memory into this tie: he scored against Brugge at Villa Park in March 2025. Cash brings reliability and drive. Emery must decide whether to trust the established pair or twist with the new arrivals.

At centre-back, there’s an old wound to consider. On Villa’s first visit to Bruges in that 2024-25 campaign, Tyrone Mings made a costly mistake that helped the hosts to a 1-0 win. That error still lingers in the background of this fixture. This time, Pau Torres is waiting in the wings, pressing for a start. Does Emery back Mings to exorcise those ghosts, or turn to Torres for a calmer night?

The margins feel thin. Every selection carries history.

How Villa could line up

Strip away the noise and the likely shape of Villa’s side in Belgium looks familiar, if slightly reshuffled. A possible starting XI:

Suzuki; Cash, Lindelof, Torres, Maatsen; Kamara, Gomes; McGinn, Buendia, Hemmings; Jackson.

It’s a team with European experience, young ambition and a manager who knows this competition better than most. What it lacks right now is momentum.

Villa arrive in Bruges as reigning European champions still waiting for their season to start. This is the kind of night that can flip a campaign on its head. Will it?