What a difference two games and four days make. Aston Villa started off their Europa League campaign with a nervy 1-0 win over Bologna with John McGinn scoring another wonder strike.

Then last Sunday after falling behind to Fulham to an early Raul Jimenez goal, it looked like the early season pain would continue. Not so, Ollie Watkins finally got his first goal of the season to bring us level. Then two quick fire goals from McGinn and Emi Buendia, gave us a much needed boost and the real feeling that the season has begun.

Now to tonight, an emotional return to Rotterdam to face Feyenoord. The stadium was the scene of Villa’s greatest night when we became European Champions in 1982 and now we will be looking for 3 points against a club full of tradition and honours.

Feyenoord won the European Cup in 1970 beating Celtic 2-1 and have won the Uefa Cup twice, firstly beating Tottenham Hotspur in 1974 and Borussia Dortmund back in 2002. They have made a fast start to Eredivisie, winning 6 and drawing 1 under the stewardship of Robin Van Persie, who is no stranger to Villa fans from his spells as player at Arsenal and Manchester United. He also scored against us on several occasions including a hat-trick to clinch Manchester United’s  last title under Sir Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford in 2013.

Feyenoord’s form in Europe has been patchy recently though. They finished 19th in the league stage of Champions League last season before beating AC Milan in the playoff round, finally bowing out to eventual finalists Inter Milan in the last 16.

This season, they failed to make the  Champions League after losing in 3rd round qualifying to Turkish side Fenerbahce. Ironically Fenerbahce also missed out and are home to Aston Villa in January.

Feyenoord didn’t start off well in Europa League either, after a patchy display, they felled to 1-0 defeat at Braga. They will be looking to get off the mark.

Aston Villa’s away form last season in Europe had been average. They won at Young Boys and RB Leipzig but lost to Club Brugge & Monaco in the league stage. They got their revenge on Club Brugge winning 6-1 on aggregate including 3-1 win at the return visit to Brugge but lost the first leg to eventual winners PSG by 3-1.

Aston Villa will be without Tyrone Mings who picked up an ankle injury so Pau Torres, who looked good on Sunday will come in to play alongside Erzi Konsa. No returns to the squad so Tielemans and Onana are still missing from Midfield.

Another good result in the Netherlands would be ideal and will give more confidence to the side ahead of Sunday’s game in the Premier League at Villa Park against Burnley. Then comes another International break before 3 more games in October which includes another trip to Holland, this time to play Go Ahead Eagles. 

UTV!