ASTON VILLA repeated their famous 1982 European Cup final win over Bayern Munich as Jhon Duran’s winner beat the German giants 1-0 on Wednesday.
The Colombian striker caught Manuel Neuer off his line 11 minutes from time to make it two wins from two games for Villa in their first experience of Champions League football for 41 years.
Bayern arrived at Villa Park unbeaten and in free-scoring form since Vincent Kompany took charge.
But the visitors were stifled by Unai Emery’s gameplan and caught out when Duran latched onto Pau Torres’ long pass and fired over Neuer from long range.
Prince William was among the over 40,000 Villa fans who inspired Emery’s men to shrug off the vast gulf in Champions League pedigree between the sides.
Just five years ago Villa were languishing in the second tier of English football, but they have enjoyed a meteoric rise since the Spaniard took charge under two years ago.
After a comfortable 3-0 win over Young Boys in Switzerland two weeks ago, the visit of the six-time European champions was the sort of glamour tie Villa fans had been relishing and it did not disappoint.
Harry Kane overcame an ankle injury that forced him off late on in Bayern’s 1-1 draw against Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen at the weekend.
Bayern had averaged over four goals a game in their opening seven matches under Kompany, including a 9-2 thrashing of Dinamo Zagreb to open their Champions League campaign.
They dominated the ball early on, but Kane’s header from an offside position that was well saved by Emi Martinez was the closest they came to breaking through Emery’s well-organised defence.
Villa did have the ball in the net midway through the first half when Torres prodded in at the back post from a free-kick.
However, Jacob Ramsey had strayed offside in the build-up up and Villa’s jubilant celebrations were cut short.
Michael Olise was another of Bayern’s stars making a return to England and the former Crystal Palace winger was only denied the opener before half-time by a stunning save from Martinez.
Kompany had surprisingly left Jamal Musiala on the bench but the German international was summoned to make an impact at half-time.
Musiala nearly weaved a way through the Villa defence on the hour mark but his shot was blocked by Torres.
Instead, it was Villa’s own super sub that came on to win the game.
Five of Duran’s six goals this season have come as a substitute.
The 20-year-old showed his strength to hold off Dayot Upamecano and lift the ball over the stranded Neuer.
Villa still needed their own goalkeeper to make important interventions at the other end to seal a historic victory.
Musiala’s pass finally unlocked the home side’s defence but Serge Gnabry could not beat Martinez.
The Argentine then produced an even better save deep into stoppage time to turn Upamecano’s header to safety.
Meanwhile, Lille claimed the scalp of Real Madrid in the Champions League on Wednesday as a Jonathan David penalty just before half-time gave the French club a famous 1-0 home win over the reigning European champions.
Canada striker David converted from the spot in first-half stoppage time and Lille held on for the victory they deserved for an outstanding performance before a sell-out 50,000 crowd at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy.
Lille were superb throughout but had to hang on at the finish as they recorded one of the finest European results in their history to get up and running in this season’s Champions League following a 2-0 loss to Sporting Lisbon in their opening game.
Meanwhile Real –- with Kylian Mbappe only appearing as a substitute on his return after a thigh injury — were well short of the form which brought them a 15th European Cup triumph last season.
That ultimately may not matter much for Carlo Ancelotti’s side, who beat Stuttgart 3-1 at home two weeks ago and who saw a 36-game unbeaten run stretching back to January come to an end here.
The new 36-team Champions League format provides margin for error, especially for the continent’s biggest clubs, with everyone now playing eight games instead of six previously.
Real’s upcoming fixtures could be tough, with a repeat of last season’s final against Borussia Dortmund next and AC Milan and Liverpool to follow.
But it is hard to imagine them failing to qualify at least for the play-off round, which may have taken some of the edge off the evening for them.
In contrast, for many Lille players this was arguably the biggest night of their careers, and they were determined to seize the opportunity.
That was especially the case for midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi, who started on his 17th birthday.
- Mbappe, Bellingham outshone -
Bouaddi hardly put a foot wrong and outshone stars in the Madrid team like Jude Bellingham, a comparative veteran at 21.
Mbappe was appearing on French soil for the first time since his move to Spain from Paris Saint-Germain. His last game for PSG had been in this same stadium, in the French Cup final in May.
The France captain was only just back from a thigh injury suffered last week, and so he started on the bench.
Instead Real’s attack was spearheaded by Endrick, the young Brazilian getting his first start since signing from Palmeiras.
He became, at 18 years and 73 days, the youngest player ever to start a Champions League game for Real, beating Raul’s record set in 1995 by five days.
Endrick almost gave Real a 19th-minute lead when he drove into the box only to see his shot saved by Lucas Chevalier.
Vinicius had been denied by Lille’s goalkeeper before that, but the hosts were the better team.
Lille almost scored on 25 minutes when David met Edon Zhegrova’s cross at the back post only for Andriy Lunin -– starting in goal for Real with Thibaut Courtois sidelined -– to save and then turn the follow-up onto the post.
The opening goal came after a Zhegrova free-kick in the final minute of the first half was blocked by the hand of Eduardo Camavinga in the box. The Italian referee pointed to the spot after reviewing the images.
David had already scored a crucial penalty away to Fenerbahce in the third qualifying round in August. He sent Lunin the wrong way to make it 1-0.
Real needed to change something in order to avoid a first defeat in 11 games this season.
Mbappe entered the fray just before the hour mark, while Endrick was replaced by the 39-year-old Luka Modric.
Zhegrova had curled a shot just wide shortly before those changes, which did not have the desired effect.
Real did almost find a dramatic late leveller though, with Chevalier saving from Arda Guler and Bellingham unable to convert the rebound.
Chevalier then produced another impressive save from Guler as Lille held on.
UEFA Champions League results on Wednesday:
League stage, matchday two
Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR) 0 Atalanta (ITA) 3 (Djimsiti 21, Lookman 44, Bellanova 48)
Girona (ESP) 2 (Lopez 19, Van de Beek 73) Feyenoord (NED) 3 (Herrera 23-og, Milambo 33, Krejci 79-og)
Liverpool (ENG) 2 (Mac Allister 11, Salah 75) Bologna (ITA) 0
RB Leipzig (GER) 2 (Sesko 30, 65-pen) Juventus (ITA) 3 (Vlahovic 50, 68, Conceicao 83)
Benfica (POR) 4 (Akturkoglu 13, Di Maria 52-pen, Bah 75, Kokcu 84-pen) Atletico Madrid (ESP) 0
Dinamo Zagreb (CRO) 2 (Sucic 45+3, Baturina 66) Monaco (FRA) 2 (Salisu 74, Zakaria 90-pen)
Lille (FRA) 1 (David 45+3-pen) Real Madrid (ESP) 0
Aston Villa (ENG) 1 (Duran 79) Bayern Munich (GER) 0
Sturm Graz (AUT) 0 Club Brugge (BEL) 1 (Tzolis 23)
