The lowdown on Club Brugge

Aston Villa’s UEFA Champions League journey continues in Belgium on Wednesday evening.

Unai Emery’s side top the league phase table heading into matchday four as they prepare to take on Club Brugge.

Take a closer look at our opponents, their key players and their head coach below…

Scenesetter

Club Brugge have been a regular feature in Europe’s top competition in recent seasons, featuring in the tournament in six of the past seven campaigns.

The Belgians missed out last term but made up for it with a run to the semi-finals of the Europa Conference League, where they lost to Fiorentina 4-3 on aggregate.

In the 2022/23 Champions League campaign, Brugge made it out of a group containing Porto, Bayer Leverkusen and Atlético Madrid and into the Round of 16.

They were beaten 7-1 on aggregate by Benfica but it marked their best run since the competition was rebranded from the European Cup.

The club’s best performance prior to that achievement had been reaching the European Cup final against Liverpool in 1978, losing 1-0 at Wembley Stadium.

Domestically, Brugge is the second most successful side in Belgium, trailing only to RSC Anderlecht in top-flight titles.

Their 19^th title arrived last season when they won the Champions’ play-offs after finishing fourth in the regular season.

Three to watch

Hans Vanaken

The 32-year-old has earned legend status at Brugge as he moves towards his tenth year at the club.

Vanaken signed from Lokeren in 2015 and has racked up over 460 appearances, six league titles and four Belgian Super Cups.

The attacking midfielder, who also captains the side, has scored over 130 goals and registered nearly 100 assists during his time in Bruges, and he’s been in good form during the current campaign.

Vanaken has four goals and five assists in the league thus far, operating behind the striker in a 4-2-3-1 formation.

Simon Mignolet

English football fans will remember the goalkeeper from his six-year stay in the Premier League with Liverpool, where he won a Champions League in 2019.

Mignolet left Anfield for the Jan Breydel Stadium in 2019 and has been part of four championship-winning teams.

The 36-year-old, who has 35 caps for Belgium, remains first choice for Brugge, playing every minute of their 17 games this season.

Andreas Skov Olsen

The Dane is Brugge’s top scorer this term with five goals from his position on the right wing.

One of those strikes came last time out as Skov Olsen bagged the winner against OH Leuven to take the team up to second in the league.

The 24-year-old has been a regular contributor of goals and assists since joining from Bologna in 2022, also earning international recognition with Denmark.

Manager focus

Nicky Hayen stepped up from Brugge’s youth team, Club NXT, who play in the second division of Belgian football, to take the senior reins in March.

Initially appointed on a caretaker basis, Hayen took over before the Champions’ play-offs and saw the team through ten games unbeaten to win the title.

After masterminding seven wins and three draws, the 44-year-old was appointed as manager on a permanent basis.

Hayen ended his playing career in 2014 after plying his trade in Belgium and the Netherlands, cutting his teeth in coaching at Dender.

In 2021, he became the first Belgian to manage in the Welsh top tier when he took charge of Haverfordwest County.