Club Brugge 1-0 Aston Villa: Tyrone Mings’s dreadful penalty concedes gives the home side a famous Champions League win – and condemns Unai Emery’s side to their first defeat of the campaign

Every player who has played in the Champions League remembers their debut in the competition and Tyrone Mings will remember it for all the wrong reasons.

Just recently, after more than a year out due to a serious knee injury, Mings made a mistake that would embarrass an elementary school student playing with friends in the yard during lunch.

Early in the second half, Aston Villa were awarded a goal kick. Amy Martinez placed the ball in his own six-yard box and passed the ball to Mings. Believing that the ball was not yet alive, Mings decided to pick it up and roll it back to the goalkeeper. Both men were stunned to see referee Tobias Stieler step forward and point to the spot.

Apparently Mings didn’t realize the referee had blown his whistle. Club Brugge was only too happy to accept the gift. Hans Vanaken correctly bet on Martinez to take over and slid the ball through the middle to seal a third straight defeat for Villa.

Villa boss Unai Emery will be furious. Few coaches pay as much attention to detail as Basque. In the lead-up to this match, he will watch countless videos of the Club Brugge match and hold several meetings with both the entire team and individual players, developing a clear tactical plan. However, you can come up with the smartest ideas in the world. They won’t protect you from these once-in-a-lifetime mistakes.

Mings will bounce back. The injuries he suffered on opening day last season may have ended some players’ careers. However, the England centre-back is as mentally strong as it gets and he knows how to overcome this mistake.

Emery will be more worried about the performance – predictable, tired, difficult and never bothering Club Brugge goalkeeper Simon Mignolet. The result is unlikely to jeopardize Villa’s chances of qualifying for the Champions League knockout stages as they started their campaign with three wins in a row. However, that doesn’t fill Villa fans with confidence ahead of Saturday’s trip to Premier League leaders Liverpool.

Usually Emery was so confident in his tactics that here it seemed that Emery was fussing in vain. He asked Morgan Rodgers and John McGinn to swap positions – an experiment he abandoned at half-time – and took a risk by selecting Mings and the out-of-form Diego Carlos in central defence. Villa needed a fine performance from Martinez to reduce the scoreline and much better is needed at Anfield.

With qualification for the league stage temptingly close, Emery entered Tyrone Mings and Boubacar Kamara into the competition for the first time. Both had been on the sidelines for long periods and this was Mings’ Champions League debut.

In the first half, Villa’s performance lacked the confidence of the first three games of this tournament. The build-up was slow and their defense shaky. Emery decided to switch Morgan Rogers from center to left and his shot from the edge of the area was deflected just wide. On the other side, Brandon Mechele’s long-range shot went straight to Emi Martinez.

Just after the 20-minute mark, Villa created their first chance. Youri Tielemans, who had been mercilessly booed as a former player for Club Brugge’s rivals Anderlecht, robbed Hans Vanaken in the center and released John McGinn. Ollie Watkins gathered his way and bought a yard of space from Joel Ordoñez only to fire wide. Moments later, McGinn headed in Kamara’s cross at the far post.

When Mings was booked for a late challenge, his centre-back partner Diego Carlos protested so much that he was also shown a yellow card. Emery would have been furious but was relieved when his side avoided going 1-0 down after 30 minutes.

Martinez did superbly to keep Ferran Jutgla’s shot from close range off the post and then pulled back impressively to keep out Christos Tzolis’ shot from inside the area. Villa now looked shaky and Mings was forced off the line when Kasper Nielsen headed Maxime De Cuyper’s cross on goal.

Villa tried to answer. Leon Bailey burst down the right flank and set up McGinn, who crossed from 25 yards, but former Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet made a simple save.

With Rodgers drifting inside throughout the first half, Club Brugge were able to attack effectively from the right, leaving Ian Maatsen isolated at left back. Unsurprisingly, Rodgers took his usual spot next to Watkins while McGinn moved to the left.

However, no tactical changes could prevent what happened six minutes after the break. Villa could complain all they wanted about the penalty, but it was an unnecessary move from Mings. Vanaken duly did the rest from the spot.

Club Brugge midfielder Ardon Jashari was calling the shots in the centre. His cut pass led to Jutgla and Mings, desperate to redeem themselves, hitting Andreas Skov Olsen after a center forward layup. Skov Olsen then fired home from 20 yards after a superb run from Tsolis down the right.