Tyrone Mings picks up ball, hands Aston Villa first Champions League defeat
Tyrone Mings made a crucial error at the Jan Breydelstadion.
In short:
Club Brugge beat Aston Villa 1-0 thanks to a penalty after Tyrone Mings inexplicably picked up the ball.
Aston Villa coach Unai Emery said it was "the biggest mistake I witnessed in my career".
What's next?
Aston Villa take on Liverpool at Anfield in the Premier League this weekend.
What was supposed to be a heartwarming moment for Tyrone Mings turned into a nightmare Champions League debut, after the Englishman's "brain freeze" handed Aston Villa a first defeat of the competition.
On his return from 14 months out with an ACL injury, 31-year-old Mings completed his remarkable rise from non-league Chippenham Town to the Champions League.
But the centre-back's debut in Europe's premier club competition will not be one that he looks back on fondly after he inexplicably picked up the ball in the penalty area, handing Club Brugge a penalty.
In the 50th minute of the match, Emiliano Martínez tapped the ball towards Mings from a goal-kick, who walked forward, scooped up the ball and put it back on the corner of the six-yard-box, appearing to believe that Martínez had tapped the ball to him in error.
After a VAR review though, German referee Tobias Stieler pointed to the spot.
The converted spot kick was the only goal of the game as Villa's perfect start to the competition came to a crashing halt.
"His mistake is completely strange. It's the biggest mistake I witnessed in my career," Aston Villa boss Unai Emery said.
"It has only happened one time in all my life. Today."
Villa keeper Martínez tried to persuade the referee after the game that he had made a mistake, but former Socceroo and Aston Villa keeper Mark Bosnich said he had no choice.
"Once the goal kick is taken, the ball is live and if somebody picks it up with their hand, it's every right to be a penalty," Bosnich told Stan Sports.
Villa defender Ezri Konsa though, said it was a mistake, compounded by the fact that the referee did not show Mings a second yellow card.
"He's on a yellow already, so why not send him off for that?" Konsa told TNT in a post-game interview.
"It is part of football. Our first loss in the Champions League and we have to move on, we can't be too down about it.
"I didn't see it, I just saw the players running to the referee saying handball.
"It kills the game. If it is a handball, a deliberate one, why not give him a second yellow? It is a mistake but we have to learn from it."
Former Celtic striker Chris Sutton told the BBC it was "ridiculous".
"It is crazy from Mings, absolutely crazy. What is he thinking? It's a brain freeze from Mings.
"Tyrone Mings might have done it when he was three."
Former Leeds United player Lucy Ward said on TNT it was a "shambles" and "farcical", while ex-England striker Peter Crouch said "it was very, very bizarre".
"Even if you don't think it is live, you don't put your hand on it," Crouch said.
"It is a moment of madness. The moment he did it we all shouted that was a penalty."
Incredibly, this is not the first time in recent years that this has happened in the Champions League.
Last season, Arsenal defender Gabriel went unpunished for picking up a short pass from goalkeeper David Raya in the first leg of the quarterfinal against Bayern Munich.
Bayern's then-coach Thomas Tuchel later criticised the referee who had said he would not award a penalty for a "kid's mistake".
"Arsenal got away with doing the same thing against Bayern Munich in the Champions League last season — maybe this time the referee has seen that the Brugge players are closing Mings down?" Former Aston Villa defender Stephen Warnock said on BBC.
"I don't think Tyrone Mings has looked at Emi Martinez at all when he took the goal-kick, which is why he thinks he can pick it up because he does not know it has been taken."
Aston Villa take on Liverpool at Anfield in the Premier League this weekend.
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