Jackson and McGinn fire Villa to opening Champions League win at Club Brugge

Aston Villa launched their Champions League campaign with a 3-2 victory over Club Brugge at the Jan Breydel Stadium on Tuesday, with three first-half goals sweeping aside a team that had kept them scoreless across their opening three Premier League fixtures. John McGinn, Emi Buendia and Nicolas Jackson were all on the scoresheet before the break, giving Unai Emery’s side a cushion they ultimately needed.

McGinn broke the deadlock in style, curling the ball into the bottom-left corner after Pau Torres surged through midfield and laid it off. The goal was his 12th in European competition, making him Aston Villa’s all-time leading scorer in major European tournaments, surpassing Ollie Watkins.

Club Brugge levelled through Hugo Vetlesen in the 19th minute, but Villa’s response was immediate. Joao Gomes and Jackson combined in the build-up before Gomes threaded a pass across the face of goal for Buendia to tap home. Jackson then added a third before half-time, latching onto a long ball from Torres, rounding goalkeeper Yann Sommer and rolling into an empty net — his first goal since joining from Chelsea in the summer.

The second half was less comfortable. A VAR review awarded Club Brugge a penalty after the ball struck Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s hand inside the box, and Nicolo Tresoldi converted to make it 3-2. The hosts pressed hard for an equaliser but Villa held firm to claim their first win of the season in any competition.

The attacking statistics offered further encouragement for Emery. Villa had managed just one shot on target across their first three league games; against Brugge they registered nine. The performance suggested their early-season struggles in front of goal were circumstantial rather than structural — a distinction that will matter as the European campaign develops.