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Villa captain Tyrone Mings endured Champions League debut to forget after handing – quite literally – the advantage to champions of Belgium
Aston Villa gave away one of the most bizarre penalties you will ever see in their 1-0 defeat by Club Brugge as Tyrone Mings suffered a complete nightmare on his Champions League debut, picking the ball up inside the penalty area.
Club Brugge are awarded a penalty after Tyrone Mings picks the ball up inside his own area 😳📺 @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/wpAqjMW8pn
Telegraph Sport breaks down the moment of madness.
Goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez was taking a quick goal-kick after 51 minutes with the game at 0-0, and what perhaps confused Mings was the ball being well inside the six-yard box when it was kicked.
Martínez had rolled the ball out but it had clearly stopped moving when he passed the ball to Mings. Martínez then moves away slightly, appearing to indicate he believes he has started play.
The England centre-back clearly thought Martínez had not taken the kick properly, so took two steps forward before bending down, picking the ball up and placing it back on the six-yard line.
Mings then passes the ball to Martínez, seemingly thinking he has taken the goal kick.
The Club Brugge crowd and then the players appeal to referee Tobias Stieler. The German official puts his hand to his ear, clearly asking for the VAR to help him with an incident he may not have seen. The verdict comes promptly that the penalty should be awarded, which Stieler then does, making Mings the first English player to concede a penalty on his Champions League debut.
Hans Vanaken sends Martínez the wrong way from the spot to give the hosts the lead. Villa manager Unai Emery was clearly fuming, sitting back into his chair in the technical area with a face like thunder and repeatedly muttering to himself.
What’s interesting is that a similar incident happened last season in the game between Arsenal and Bayern Munich, involving David Raya and Gabriel Magalhaes. On that occasion, referee Glenn Nyberg said it was a “kids mistake” and declined to award a penalty. Then-Bayern manager Thomas Tuchel hit out at the official for not having “the courage” to award the spot kick.
According to Thomas Tuchel, the referee admitted he 𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐋𝐃 𝐇𝐀𝐕𝐄 awarded Bayern Munich a penalty for this incident with Gabriel 👀🎙 @julesbreach pic.twitter.com/nR2ENVASm2
Unai Emery has said the remarkable penalty conceded by Mings that cost his side in Bruges was the “biggest mistake” he had experienced as a manager.
Mings’s nightmare moment sentenced Villa to their first defeat in the Champions League this season and Emery was clearly furious after the match.
He said: “It’s the biggest mistake I’ve witnessed in my career as a coach and it’s very, very strange.
“It’s not for Mings or Martínez [to explain], it’s only happened one time in all my life: today.
“We have to forget it quickly. This mistake is not going to repeat again, I think never in my life, never again. The match completely changed after the mistake.”
Villa have now gone four matches without a win and face Premier League leaders Liverpool at Anfield on Saturday.