Aston Villa marked their return to European football’s top club competition after a 41-year absence with a thoroughly deserved victory over Swiss champions Young Boys.
Unai Emery’s team took time to settle on the artificial surface in Bern but went in front through Youri Tielemans, who finished off a well-worked corner routine with a driven finish into the far corner.
Villa were gifted a second by some calamitous defending from the home side, with Ollie Watkins intercepting Mohamed Ali Camara’s pass towards goalkeeper David von Ballmoos and Jacob Ramsey firing in off the inside of the post.
The hosts were spared further punishment before half-time by the video assistant referee (VAR), who disallowed Watkins’ powerful effort for handball.
Silvere Ganvoula and Filip Ugrinic forced saves out of Emi Martinez in the second half and substitute Jhon Duran had a left-footed finish ruled out for handball against Amadou Onana, but the Belgian midfielder’s low effort put the seal on a comfortable evening for Emery’s side.
The visitors wore black armbands in Switzerland in memory of former striker and 1982 European Cup winner Gary Shaw, who passed away on Monday from injuries sustained in a heavy fall.
An image of Shaw was displayed on the big screen before kick-off, with both sets of fans taking part in a period of applause.
Villa supporters had flocked to Switzerland in their numbers in anticipation of the club’s first match at this level since 1983, when Juventus knocked Tony Barton’s reigning European champions out of the competition at the quarter-final stage.
With games against the likes of Bayern Munich, RB Leipzig and the Turin side to come in the tournament’s new-look league phase, this could prove to be a crucial three points for Emery’s team – but there were one or two nervy moments early on as Young Boys threatened to stun their opponents.
Ebrima Colley twice went close, stinging Martinez’s palms with a low shot before curling a tremendous, long-range effort narrowly over the Argentine’s crossbar.
But the visitors soon improved and never looked back once Tielemans had powered them ahead from John McGinn’s cross, becoming the first Villa player to score at Europe’s top table since Peter Withe.
Ramsey doubled their advantage, before Watkins had a goal ruled out after the England international’s initial shot was ruled to have rebounded off Tanguy Zoukrou and struck the Villa frontman on the arm.
The disallowed goal was nothing more than a minor inconvenience for the visitors, however, as they resumed their hunt for further goals after the interval.
Duran – who scored a sensational winner in Saturday’s Premier league victory over Everton – thought he had scored his fourth goal of the season with 10 minutes remaining, but the ball struck Onana’s hand in the build-up and was eventually ruled out by referee Georgi Kabakov.
In the end, it was Onana who put the seal on a thoroughly pleasing evening for Villa, who become the fourth English side to win their opening Champions League game after Manchester United, Newcastle and Leicester.
The only sour note for the visitors was an apparent second-half injury to Watkins, who was spotted wearing an ice pack around his ankle after being replaced by Duran on the hour mark.
