Aston Villa 3 RB Salzburg 2 Reaction
This should not have been complicated, but Villa allowed it to be. The average age of the visiting RB Salzburg team was 22-years-old with four teenagers in their first XI. Even making an expected six changes, it should have been short work for a Villa team knowing a win would guarantee a top-two finish and second-leg home advantage in the Europa League knockouts.
Aston Villa approached the Salzburg game with management in mind, but for around an hour drifted into passivity.
The first half lacked tempo and bite. Defensive concentration wavered and a young, fearless Salzburg side were given encouragement they should not have had. Villa looked like a team trying to coast a European night that demanded focus.
After gifting their visitors an opening goal in the first, there seemed to be little reaction as Salzburg found themselves 2-0 to the good, shortly after the restart. The second half changed when Villa did though. They weren’t 2-0 down for too long, as subs were made and the tempo lifted, intent sharpened, and the physical and technical gap finally told. Once Villa switched on, control followed quickly and the outcome that mattered was secured thanks to a fine strike by Villa’s own teenager Jamal Jimoh-Aloba.
This My Old Man Said reaction podcast episode looks at where Villa misjudged the night, why youth and energy became decisive, and how fine the margins are in Europe when game management slips into over-management.
Villa got what they needed. In the end.
UTV
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Credits:
David Michael – @myoldmansaid
Chris Budd – @BUDD_music