Aston Villa have a positive record against German sides in the continental competitions, which can boost their confidence.
Aston Villa have been quite familiar with German teams as their opposition. They have met four teams so far in six games. Villa has beaten them four times but lost twice.
Yet, this is their first encounter with SC Freiburg, the underrated side from the Bundesliga, which has never won any major competitions yet. Their success in reaching the Europa League final this year is also their first ever continental final in the club’s history.
Here are the details of every result of the Lions’ clash versus the German sides in the continental competitions.
The first game against the German side was the away match in East Germany versus BFC Dynamo or Dynamo Berlin. It was the second round of the European Cup in the 1981/82 season. They managed to pick up a 2-1 win on the road. Tony Morley bagged a brace to help them snatch a quite dramatic victory. He scored an opener early in the five minutes. The host equalised in the 50th minute through William Riediger before Morley scored a winning goal in the 85th minute.
However, in the reverse fixture at their home turf, Villa ironically suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat. Frank Terletzki scored the only goal of the game. Fortunately, they still managed to go through due to the away goal rule. The Lions netted twice on the road in a 2-2 aggregate.
In 2008/09, Aston Villa took on Hamburg in the final game of the group stage. They have secured the spot in the knockout stage, and the manager, Martin O’Neill, opted to rest a number of key men, including the goalie, Brad Friedel; Stylian Petrov; Emile Heskey; James Milner; Gareth Barry; and Ashley Young, following their two wins and one defeat in the previous games.
The Lions eventually were well beaten, 3-1. The Croatian duo, Martin Petric and Ivica Olic, stole the spotlight as they bagged all the German outfit’s winning goals. The latter even scored twice before Nathan Delfouneso netted a consolation goal. Villa’s campaign eventually ended in the round of 32. They failed to ease past CSKA Moscow in a 3-1 win on aggregate.
This was one of the most thrilling games in Villa’s continental form. It was in the sixth game of the UCL league phase and was held in Leipzig. Both sides traded goals here. Villa took the lead through John McGinn’s strike in the 3rd minute, but the home side put them back on level terms as Lois Openda scored in the 27th minute.
In the second half, Villa restored their lead again as Jhon Duran’s long-range shot found the back of the net. Yet, 10 minutes later, Christopher Baumgartner notched an equaliser through a volley goal. Finally, Unai Emery’s men came out with a winner as Ross Barkley scored through a deflected strike from outside the box.
Nevertheless, the real hero was the goalkeeper Emi Martinez, who was able to make four dramatic crucial saves in the remaining time. Such denial was vital to Marco Rose’s men to snatch a win.
Last but not least, it was the meeting against Bayern Munich that was memorable. Villa met twice and won both of them with an identical final score.
The first one was surely the 1981/82 European Cup final. The match was held in Rotterdam, and Villa managed to win 1-0 through Peter Withe’s goal in the second half. The former Newcastle United man slotted home right in front of the empty goal after taking advantage of Tony Morley’s pass from the left wing.
Their second encounter was last season. It was the second game of the league phase and their first home game. The Clarets and Blues were flying high as they snatched another win against the Bavarians. The game was tight, but Villa were knocking on the door of the German giant. They even had their goal ruled out when Pau Torres tucked the ball away into the far side of the goal. Another attempt came, but this time Villa did not waste it as Jhon Duran’s strike could not be denied by Manuel Neuer.
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