Club Brugge v Aston Villa: Champions League – live

<div id="readability-page-1" class="page"><div id="liveblog-body"><p><span><gu-island name="KeyEventsCarousel" priority="feature" deferuntil="visible" props="{&quot;keyEvents&quot;:[{&quot;id&quot;:&quot;6a9fbbd68f08851de75c1787&quot;,&quot;elements&quot;:[{&quot;_type&quot;:&quot;model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement&quot;,&quot;html&quot;:&quot;<p>The Champions League’s back, baby! A lot has changed since Paris Saint-Germain retained the giant trophy in May – not least at Villa Park. Aston Villa covered themselves in glory at the end of lsat season, qualifying for the <a href=\&quot;https://www.theguardian.com/football/championsleague\&quot; data-component=\&quot;auto-linked-tag\&quot;>Champions League</a> on two fronts, but six of the XI that started their Europa League final victory over Freiburg have been pinched by other clubs.</p>&quot;,&quot;elementId&quot;:&quot;153fe184-45e8-473a-ba4b-6f4b974e2e84&quot;},{&quot;_type&quot;:&quot;model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement&quot;,&quot;html&quot;:&quot;<p>No team can be de-spined without suffering the consequences, and Villa have had a tough start to the Premier League season: three games, one point, no goals. You’d expect Unai Emery to navigate the necessary transition, and we shouldn’t forget that <a href=\&quot;https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/sep/07/emery-ready-to-ignite-aston-villas-season-at-club-brugge-after-familiar-slow-start\&quot;>Villa had an equally poor start last season</a>. But for now the mood around the club might reasonably described as sub-optimal.</p>&quot;,&quot;elementId&quot;:&quot;cbedf20c-d933-4304-a186-5cd490a59194&quot;},{&quot;_type&quot;:&quot;model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement&quot;,&quot;html&quot;:&quot;<p>Villa start their Champions League in <s>feckin</s> Bruges, where they face the Belgian runners-up <a href=\&quot;https://www.theguardian.com/football/clubbrugge\&quot; data-component=\&quot;auto-linked-tag\&quot;>Club Brugge</a>. Do they have to win? Of course they don’t haveta! But a victory – even a goal – would make everyone at Villa feel a bit better.</p>&quot;,&quot;elementId&quot;:&quot;206009ae-4523-46c7-a972-fc8956f1a31c&quot;},{&quot;_type&quot;:&quot;model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement&quot;,&quot;html&quot;:&quot;<p><strong>Kick off </strong>5.45pm.</p>&quot;,&quot;elementId&quot;:&quot;c9916bf0-fd1d-4ade-8df1-57f20ed7458f&quot;}],&quot;attributes&quot;:{&quot;pinned&quot;:false,&quot;keyEvent&quot;:true,&quot;summary&quot;:false},&quot;blockCreatedOn&quot;:1788880542000,&quot;blockCreatedOnDisplay&quot;:&quot;16.15&nbsp;BST&quot;,&quot;blockLastUpdated&quot;:1788880364000,&quot;blockLastUpdatedDisplay&quot;:&quot;16.12&nbsp;BST&quot;,&quot;blockFirstPublished&quot;:1788880542000,&quot;blockFirstPublishedDisplay&quot;:&quot;16.15&nbsp;BST&quot;,&quot;blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone&quot;:&quot;16.15&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Preamble&quot;,&quot;contributors&quot;:[],&quot;primaryDateLine&quot;:&quot;Tue 8 Sep 2026 16.15 BST&quot;,&quot;secondaryDateLine&quot;:&quot;Last modified on Tue 8 Sep 2026 16.18 BST&quot;}],&quot;id&quot;:&quot;key-events-carousel-mobile&quot;,&quot;renderingTarget&quot;:&quot;Web&quot;,&quot;serverTime&quot;:1788880938647}"><span id="key-events-carousel-mobile"></span><span><p>Key events</p></span><div id="key-events-carousel"><ul><li><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/live/2026/sep/08/club-brugge-v-aston-villa-champions-league-live?page=with%3Ablock-6a9fbbd68f08851de75c1787#block-6a9fbbd68f08851de75c1787" data-link-name="key event card | 0 of 1"><p><time datetime="2026-09-08T15:15:42.000Z" data-locale="en-gb" title="Tuesday, 8 September 2026 at 16:15 British Summer Time">6m ago</time></p><p>Preamble</p></a></li></ul></div></gu-island></span></p><article id="block-6a9fbbd68f08851de75c1787"><header><h2>Preamble</h2></header><p>The Champions League’s back, baby! A lot has changed since Paris Saint-Germain retained the giant trophy in May – not least at Villa Park. Aston Villa covered themselves in glory at the end of lsat season, qualifying for the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/championsleague" data-link-name="in body link" data-component="auto-linked-tag">Champions League</a> on two fronts, but six of the XI that started their Europa League final victory over Freiburg have been pinched by other clubs.</p><p>No team can be de-spined without suffering the consequences, and Villa have had a tough start to the Premier League season: three games, one point, no goals. You’d expect Unai Emery to navigate the necessary transition, and we shouldn’t forget that <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/sep/07/emery-ready-to-ignite-aston-villas-season-at-club-brugge-after-familiar-slow-start" data-link-name="in body link">Villa had an equally poor start last season</a>. But for now the mood around the club might reasonably described as sub-optimal.</p><p>Villa start their Champions League in <s>feckin</s> Bruges, where they face the Belgian runners-up <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/clubbrugge" data-link-name="in body link" data-component="auto-linked-tag">Club Brugge</a>. Do they have to win? Of course they don’t haveta! But a victory – even a goal – would make everyone at Villa feel a bit better.</p><p><strong>Kick off </strong>5.45pm.</p></article></div></div>