Champions League Matchday 1: Club Brugge vs Aston Villa facts
Friday, September 4, 2026
Article summary
Previous meetings, club facts and key stats ahead of the UEFA Champions League Matchday 1 game.
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Club Brugge and Aston Villa meet again on UEFA Champions League Matchday 1 as the 2026/27 Belgian title winners kick off against the UEFA Europa League holders.
Previous meetings
All three of the sides' previous fixtures came in the 2024/25 Champions League. Club Brugge triumphed 1-0 in Belgium on Matchday 4 – Hans Vanaken scoring the only goal – before the English side won 3-1 away and 3-0 at home in the round of 16, Ian Maatsen scoring in the second leg.
That 2024 victory against Villa is Club Brugge's only success in their last 19 matches against English teams (D3 L15); a 0-3 home loss to Arsenal on Matchday 6 last season was their fourth in a row, conceding three goals in each, and seventh in eight games (W1).
Club Brugge won six of their first seven home games against English visitors (D1); their 2024 victory against Villa is their only success in the subsequent nine (D2 L6).
Villa have won three of their last five matches against Belgian teams (D1 L1).
Form guide
This is Club Brugge's 13th Champions League group stage campaign, a new Belgian record – they had been level with Anderlecht on 12 – and a ninth in 11 seasons.
Nineteenth in last season's league phase (W3 D1 L4), Club Brugge went on to lose 4-7 on aggregate to Atlético de Madrid in the knockout phase play-offs.
Having not reached the knockout rounds in their first nine campaigns in the Champions League proper, Club Brugge have progressed from the group stage/league phase in each of the last three.
This is Villa's second Champions League campaign; they reached the quarter-finals on debut in 2024/25, losing 4-5 on aggregate against eventual winners Paris Saint-Germain.
Unai Emery's team lifted the Europa League in 2025/26, finishing second in the league phase (W7 L1) before beating LOSC Lille (3-0 aggregate), Bologna (7-1) and fellow English side Nottingham Forest (4-1) to reach the final, where they defeated Freiburg 3-0 in Istanbul.
Villa were beaten 2-1 by Paris in the UEFA Super Cup on 12 August.
Links and trivia
Club Brugge won their final two matches of the 2025/26 league phase, beating Kairat Almaty (4-1 a) and Marseille (3-0 h).
The Bruges side have lost only three of their last 22 home European games (W13 D6).
Fifty-nine goals were scored in Club Brugge's 14 European matches last season at an average of 4.2 per game.
Club Brugge have scored three or more goals in six of their last seven home Champions League games.
Aston Villa won 13 of their 15 matches in last season's Europa League (L2).
Emery's team have lost only three of their last 21 European group stage/league phase matches (W16 D2).
Villa have won their opening fixture in three of their four European group stage/league phase campaigns, including 3-0 at Young Boys on Matchday 1 of the 2024/25 Champions League.
The Birmingham club have kept nine clean sheets in their last 16 European matches and have scored in all but one of the last 21.