Villa's European start looks a lot better than their league one

There is no dressing up where Villa sit domestically right now: 17th in the Premier League, one point from three games, a goal difference of minus five. That is the backdrop against which this trip to Belgium mattered more than a routine European away day usually would.

McGinn's goal in the first half was enough to settle it, and Villa held on for the clean sheet against a Club Brugge side playing in their own stadium. Details on the goal itself, the minute, the build-up, remain thin from the reporting available, but the outcome is not in doubt: three points, a clean sheet, a winning start to the group phase.

A different competition, a different story

Whatever has gone wrong for Villa in the Premier League this season, the Champions League gives Emery a clean slate. This is the competition his squad was built for, and Sunday's win in Bruges was the first sign this season that the plan can still work somewhere.

That squad has looked short of answers in the league so far. Two defeats and a draw from three games is not the platform anyone at Villa Park expected, and a goal difference already in negative single figures points to problems at both ends. None of that travelled with them to Belgium.

What it buys them

A win away from home in the opening round of Champions League group play buys Emery a bit of breathing room and gives his players a result to build a European campaign around, even while the domestic picture stays unresolved.

The next test is whether this trip to Belgium was the start of something or a one-off bright spot against a rockier season. For now, Villa fans get to enjoy the rare sight of their side actually winning a game.