Aston Villa must be ‘very careful’ if they play in the Champions League, warns Sharpe

Aston Villa’s players will be praying to avoid injury on the artificial pitch where the club will play for the first time in the Champions League on Tuesday, Villans fan and former Manchester United winner Lee Sharpe has said.

Sharpe recalls Sir Alex Ferguson’s concerns about unexpected places during his playing days in Europe as part of the United manager’s team, although Villa manager Unai Emery and midfielder Youri Tielemans were keen to insist they would not “make excuses” for the place. used. is a Swiss Young Boys group.

“We’ve played on some bad pitches – not many artificial pitches, there were a lot of holes and grass left,” said Sharpe, whose success included a key role in United’s run to the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1991.

“I remember going to Honved, Hungary, the stadium was like a farmer’s field, it was a joke. The manager was warning the players before they went out because they could fall on their ankles and get injured.

“Before the game, you think ‘I hope and pray I don’t get injured tonight’. You go out and do what needs to be done and you just have to deal with the consequences – if you get hurt, so be it.”

Young Boys vs Aston Villa

Young Boys unveiled a facelift at their home Wankdorf Stadium in 2014 to cut costs and help them host more events, with Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola saying the grass could be “better” before his side’s 3-1 win at Bern last October.

Villa have changed their plans to allow them to arrive early and train at the pitch, and Tielemans likens it to the astroturf their team would have played on during their youth career.

“Astroturf is weird because even though you get a real roll, it sticks a little bit,” Sharpe noted. “Your sticks can get stuck a little bit, so it’s easy to get injured and it bothers a lot of defenders.

“Most of the time, if we can’t train outside during the winter, many players could not train in artificial fields because that would hurt their backs. They have to be very careful about injuries.

“Especially in a synthetic environment, you might think you don’t want to burn the slides going down. Your feet will feel completely different from the way they do on Saturday in the grass. It can slow you down and lose concentration.”

🎂 Happy birthday to Lee Sharpe, who celebrates his 47th birthday today! Here’s our tribute…

Come and look for goals ⚽️
Stay in the festivities 🕺 pic.twitter.com/DVr0ZnVNU4

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Villa results: ‘So and so’

The only blemish on Villa’s strong start to the season was a 2-0 home defeat to Arsenal on August 24, where they would have continued but for the absence of talisman Ollie Watkins and an exceptional performance from visiting goalkeeper David Raya.

“They’ve built up really well and come back strong this season,” said Sharpe, who was born less than 20 miles from Villa Park.

“Sometimes teams like Villa have an unbelievable season and then come back and their form drops a bit.

“They were really unlucky against Arsenal; Ollie Watkins, on any other Saturday, put two in the net and they got at least a draw in that game. They look good, they are strategic and everyone knows what they are doing.”

“THAT is a breath-taking goal!” 😱

What a strike by Jhon Durán! 🚀 pic.twitter.com/QSVcn8AUQt

– Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) September 14, 2024

Duran’s goal vs Everton

Emery’s men will be delighted with their 3-2 home win over Everton on Saturday, recovering from 2-0 behind with two goals from Watkins and a stunning away win from Jhon Duran.

“When you have goals like that in the locker, anything is possible,” Sharpe believes. “A number of Villa boys said they were saying ‘don’t shoot, don’t shoot’. Oh my god – it was absolutely amazing.”

Lee Sharpe was speaking to newbettingsites.uk.