Well, after great speculation regarding the regulations imposed on travelling Aston Villa supporters by the Turkish authorities, I made the decision to draw the line on attending this fixture.
Whilst watching Villa fans on social media having a party as we speak is giving me FOMO, tomorrow’s proceedings including the planned two hour hold back may cause that emotion to be quickly discarded.
Fenerbahçe SK currently sit 2nd in the Turkish Süper Lig, and look to beat Aston Villa to strengthen their chances of direct qualification to the knockout stages of the competition, with the help of some faces very familiar to B6.
The big one obviously being Jhon Duran, who has had his suspension overturned meaning he is available for tomorrow evening’s clash in Istanbul. I cannot think of any other demeanour other than him being out to brutally haunt us, as something tells me he left on very sour terms and was a huge problem in our dressing room.
Meanwhile, a friendlier face in Marco Asensio also will be available for selection tomorrow, someone who we could probably use on our wing right now, although I am hoping Bailey will be available for selection either tomorrow or Sunday’s clash in Tyneside.
Finally, another player who is registered for Fenerbahçe is Diego Carlos, despite being out on loan.
Well, I thought the reaction of most of our fan base following Sunday’s disastrous home defeat was well amplified on this forum, with it almost seeming as if fans had forgot the losing feeling to a team that we should be beating. Sod’s Law really does exist, Everton haven’t beaten us in the Premiership since I believe 2016, and then they go and beat us to prevent us going second and four points from the top of the shop, which reminds me of the draw to Sheffield United, only salvaged by a last minute Zaniolo header (remember him?) two seasons ago, following 1-0 home victories against both Man City and Arsenal.
I think what plays on everyone’s mind is our newly founded injury crisis. With Boubacar Kamara out for the season, McGinn recently injured, and Onana and Barkley made of the weakest form of glass, we could very easily get overrun in midfield, allowing Fenerbahçe to thread balls through to Duran, who we know is very capable of bullying centre-halves. With Pau Torres prone to being bullied to physical players, I can imagine Jhon Duran giving our backline a run for their money, and I really think it is about keeping their most prolific players quiet.
Team news – Starting with the home side, Fenerbahce trio Archie Brown, Levent Mercan and Sebastian Szymanski all remain sidelined with injuries, while January signings Matteo Guendouzi, Anthony Musaba and Mert Gunok are all ineligible for the Europa League until the knockout rounds.
As for Aston Villa, John Mcginn was taken off with a knee injury in the first half of Sunday’s defeat to Everton and will join Boubacar Kamara and Ross Barkley in the treatment room. (As per sportsmole)
As for Onana, I heard he has made the trip to Istanbul with the rest of the team, which could be a positive for our midfield. If Guessand is in talks to leave the club, it begs the question whether he will be selected for this fixture. Martinez too, agents in Italy, just get him gone at this point, he is very clearly uninterested and I’m bored of even discussing it.
Having said all of that, I am going to remain positive and go for a 1-2 Villa win, although this could very easily end a draw and the hosts will be no pushover. I am hoping Villa fans stay safe and avoid a massive holdback. UTV!
A very solid performance. Given the injuries, a very professional performance.
And to think if we were clinical in front of goal, we could have won 5-0!
Top 2 gets you automatic 2nd legs at home.
Does that matter?
Yes.
Not necessarily but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t go for it. But top 8 gives you round of 16 second leg at home so we’ll take that.
We should really beat Red Bull Salzburg at home in last game.
Lyon and Mityland at home last game so I suspect third is best with our GD unless there’s an upset.
Strike that last comment Mityland concede late equaliser so we’re second; win against Salzburg and we’re in top 2!
Well that ended up being tougher than it should’ve been. Bizot excellent again and I would be happy for him to start against Newcastle as long as he didn’t pick up an injury. Mings and Lindelof were also fantastic. Mr Glass also survived the last 20 minutes!
I couldn’t help but think how much danger Mateta would have been to them if he had played instead of Watkins.
We badly need a natural striker. ‘Natural’ the operative word, not ‘striker.’
Well done to Unai and the boys. Objective achieved with a game to spare. 👏👏👏
An assured performance and we should have won by a shed load of goals.
MOTM was Bizot but I’d also give Bogarde a share. Great chance now of finishing in the top two.
Midgetland drop 2 points 10 minutes into stoppage time. What a bonus!
Midgetland? Time Bandits?
I hope I’m right but I think pundits are over reacting with the Unai and Tielemens incident. Looked to me like Unai was giving him on of those strange pat on the back pushes if that makes sense.
Ref was a joke again and where the hell did 7 minutes come from.
Apologies but I don’t agree Tom, it looked unfriendly. Joleon Lescott summed it up well, imagine that was the other way round.
Youri looks happy enough here;
https://twitter.com/x/status/2014434895859482798
https://twitter.com/x/status/2014439674085863843
Few!
You’re over thinking the non incident between Emery and Tielemans.
Emery is an obsessive and he was completely immersed in the game at that point and couldn’t manage Tielemans coming over to him as a distraction – pundits, media will always try and make something negative out of these things and as fans we shouldn’t be so sensitive.
Move on Alfie it was a non event – Emery pulled off a masterstroke and we won a cracking game; celebrate that.
I’m allowed to question things that clearly looked like an altercation. Emery’s face looked angry at Tielemans. But Emery has since said “he is like my son,” which, I think, clears a lot up.
Alfie. Do not question authority!!! 😁
And complete unrelated – Infantino really is a cheap piece of work after his recent comments – him and Trump really are ideal bedfellows!
What’s he said?
He said he’s gone off the idea of Greenland and is now focusing on Aston, following last night’s win…
Last comment – while I’m on a rant about the media, the BBC report suggests we had to ‘rely on’ an offside decision to get the points.
Funny that – no mention of a (marginal) offside decision for a goal by Villa or the fact that we hit the post and had one cleared off the line. Add to that they seemed more interested in when Tielemans came off.
Ah, I forgot, we’re an upstart side from Birmingham.
UTMV and Newcastle next.
This victory gives us extremely high spirits going into the game in Tyneside, we just need to amplify that sort of performance on Sunday – tough stadium to go to, decent atmosphere, decent side, but get the job done professionally. If we can win tonight, like we have done, I don’t see how we can’t get a result on Sunday!
Anyone see Chris Heck’s tweet endorsing Aston Villa’s financial profits. Have a lot of respect for him and I told him on X. He liked my comment, which means he saw it, so I am glad.
Watched the game last night when I was out with friends. We played really well! Very impressed with the organisation and commitment. We could’ve scored two or three.
I hope Unai said sorry to Youri. No idea what went on!!!
Barcodes next with some key players missing too. It’ll depend on who’s the hungriest out of the two of us.