--- title: "Aston Villa and AEK open Champions League season with wins: shootout in Bruges and Jackson's debut goal" description: "In the first matchday of the 2026/27 Champions League league phase, Aston Villa beat Bruges 3:2, while AEK narrowly edged out LASK. John McGinn opened the scoring in the new edition." date: 2026-09-08T19:22:00.000Z lang: en url: https://xab.info/en/posts/aston-villa-and-aek-open-champions-league-season-with-wins tags: [champions-league, aston-villa, brugge, aek, lask, john-mcgin, oliver-jackson] publisher: "XAB.info" --- # Aston Villa and AEK open Champions League season with wins: shootout in Bruges and Jackson's debut goal ![Aston Villa player battling AEK defenders for the ball in a Champions League match](https://xab.info/media/2026/09/08/aston-villa-i-aek-otkryli-sezon-ligi-chempionov-pobedami/aston-villa-i-aek-otkryli-sezon-ligi-chempionov-pobedami-1.webp) ## 🎯 Key Points - On September 8, the 1st matchday of the 2026/27 Champions League league phase kicked off; in the first slot, Aston Villa and AEK won. - Bruges vs. Aston Villa — 2:3 (1:3, 1:0); goals by McGinn, Buendía, Watkins — Verteszen, Trezoldi (pen.). - John McGinn scored the first goal of the current Champions League league phase. - AEK beat LASK 1:0 at home (goal by Marin); Alexander Zubkov never came on. On Tuesday, September 8, the first matchday of the league phase of the 2026/27 Champions League season kicked off. In the day's first time slot, Aston Villa and Greece's AEK both secured victories. Both teams started their campaign in the new edition of Europe's premier club competition in confident fashion, with the match in Bruges turning into a real shootout featuring four goals in a single half. A detailed breakdown of the results from the first time slot is in the [Sport RBC](https://sport.rbc.ua/ukr/football/aston-villa-ta-aek-rozpochali-vistupi-lizi-1788895225.html) article. ### Shootout in Bruges: Villa snatched a 3:2 win The main match of the first slot was Bruges vs. Aston Villa, which ended 2:3 (1:3, 1:0) in favour of the visitors from Birmingham. The decisive period was the first half, in which Villa struck the hosts' net three times: John McGinn (11th minute), Emiliano Buendía (22) and Ollie Watkins (43) all found the back of the net. The Belgians replied with a goal from Verteszen on the 19th minute, and in the second half Trezoldi converted a penalty (61), but that was not enough to salvage even a draw. ### McGinn opened the scoring in the new edition It is worth noting separately that it was John McGinn who scored the first goal of the current league phase of the Champions League. His strike on the 11th minute became the starting signal for the entire tournament. It is also worth highlighting that the winning goal on the 43rd minute was Ollie Watkins' debut goal in the Champions League — he sealed Villa's lead before the break and effectively predetermined the outcome of the match. ### AEK beat LASK without Zubkov In the second match of the first time slot, AEK narrowly edged out Austria's LASK at home — 1:0. The only goal, scored in the middle of the first half, was credited to Marin. Notably, Alexander Zubkov never made it onto the pitch, yet the Greek club managed to win without his involvement, which was an important opening result for the team in the league phase of the tournament. ### Emery's comments after the win After the match, Aston Villa's head coach Unai Emery commented on the result, noting that his team had plenty of chances to build an even bigger lead over Bruges. Thus, the Birmingham manager acknowledged that the side could have scored more, but ultimately settled for three goals in a tense, high-scoring encounter that opened the 2026/27 Champions League season. ## 🔍 Fact-Check Verification - [Aston Villa and AEK open their Champions League campaigns with wins](https://sport.rbc.ua/ukr/football/aston-villa-ta-aek-rozpochali-vistupi-lizi-1788895225.html) - Счёт 2:3 (1:3, 1:0), авторы голов, гол Марина за АЕК, отсутствие Зубкова на поле. - [Four goals in a half and a wild finish: Aston Villa snatched a win in Bruges. Goal videos and review ...](https://www.ua-football.com/video/foreign/1788895374-chetyre-gola-za-taym-i-bezumnaya-koncovka-aston-villa-vyrvala-pobedu-v-bryugge-video-golov-i-obzor-matcha.html) - Подтверждает результативность первого тайма и итоговую победу «Виллы». - [Watkins' debut goal brings Aston Villa a win over Bruges in the Champions League](https://www.sport-express.ru/football/champions-league/news/bryugge-aston-villa-schet-i-rezultat-matcha-obschego-etapa-ligi-chempionov-8-sentyabrya-2026-2453633/) - Подтверждает дату 8 сентября 2026 и статус дебютного гола Джексона. - [Emery on Aston Villa's win over Bruges: "We had plenty of chances to build a bigger ..."](https://www.sport-express.net/football/champions-league/news/emeri-o-pobede-aston-villy-nad-bryugge-u-nas-bylo-mnogo-momentov-chtoby-dobitsya-bolshego-preimuschestva-2453659/) - Подтверждает цитату тренера Эмери после матча. ## ❓ FAQ ### Q: What was the score in the Bruges vs. Aston Villa match? **A:** Aston Villa won 3:2 (1:3, 1:0). The visitors' goals were scored by McGinn (11), Buendía (22) and Watkins (43), while the hosts' were by Verteszen (19) and Trezoldi from a penalty (61). ### Q: Who scored the first goal of the 2026/27 Champions League league phase? **A:** The first goal of the current league phase was John McGinn's strike on the 11th minute of the match against Bruges. ### Q: Did Alexander Zubkov play for AEK in the match against LASK? **A:** No, Zubkov never came on. AEK beat LASK 1:0 thanks to a goal by Marin in the middle of the first half.