PERHAPS Aston Villa fans should not Go Ahead and book their return flights to Istanbul just yet for next May’s Europa League final.
Boss Unai Emery, overseeing his 200th game in Europe, might be a mastermind and serial winner of this competition but Villa’s progress stalled in the eye of Storm Benjamin in central Holland.
It was a famous night for lowly Go Ahead Eagles, the reigning Dutch Cup champions, who survived the fierce wind and rain to snap Villa’s five-match winning streak in Deventer, which they celebrated with premature fireworks outside the stadium.
In their first meeting with English opposition, the Eagles soared high when captain Mats Deijl scored coolly like a striker, despite being a defender, to give them their second win of this group stage.
And Emiliano Buendia, a hero at the weekend in North London, failed to nab a point as he blasted a dreadful penalty so high into the sky there was a danger it could have carried into the North Sea.
Ahead of Premier League clashes with Manchester City and Liverpool, this was a huge setback for shirt-soaked Villa players as the Low Countries were battered by a massive weather front.
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Go Ahead Eagles boss Melvin Boel worked at Feyenoord as a youth coach for 11 years and part of that tenure was when Arne Slot was there, winning the Dutch domestic title.
The Liverpool chief tried to do his old mate a favour by sending him videos of Villa from Premier League action.
It is difficult to say how helpful that was because when the team-sheets landed Villa had made SEVEN changes to the side that stunned Tottenham at the weekend with a 2-1 comeback triumph.
One of the four that started the Spurs encounter was Evann Guessand and the Ivory Coast forward opened his club account on four minutes.
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It was a defensive calamity for the Eagles as their Belgian goalkeeper Jari De Busser failed to clear the clipped cross from Jadon Sancho on his second Villa start.
Another defender tried to clear the ball but made a hash of that and the £30million had a simple tap-in off his shins for the opener.
Guessand’s one-on-one with De Busser on 29 minutes, following a superb defence-splitting Buendia pass, should have doubled the lead but the West African was unable to get the better of the home goalie.
Villa’s decision to play a high line can sometimes be unpicked and that happened when Calvin Twigt, a 15-minute sub following an injury to a starter Gerrit Nauber, floated over a free-kick on 42 minutes.
Mathis Suray timed his run perfectly and survived the VAR check after his shot deflected off the calf of Villa’s Pau Torres and over the ambushed goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez.
Whether it was deserved or not, given how little they had created until then, it will go down as Go Ahead Eagles’ first-ever goal at the De Adelaarshorst in the Europa League and the locals – many of whom were wearing rain-protecting ponchos – really celebrated that one.
In the first half, Villa had 25 total touches inside the opposition box, with six of their 12 shots being on target, and yet they were level – football is a funny old business like that.
As the minutes ticked by in the second half, the Eagles grew into the game and on 61 minutes Joris Kramer’s diagonal ball found Deijl, who chested down the delivery and then finished with composure past Argentine stopper Martinez.
A quadruple substitution was made by Emery to try and rescue the situation and one of those inductees, Matty Cash, won a penalty when Dean James handled.
Emiliano Buendia’s last penalty had been five years ago for Norwich and for reasons only known to him, he hit his attempt high when it would have been more sensible to keep it low given the windy conditions.
This was one of those types of foreign trips on a cold, wet and windy evening, in a small, packed stadium, with noisy home fans, where a fashionable Prem side like Villa might struggle.
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Especially if they were not fully at it and focused – and so it proved as they lost to a Dutch team for the first time and surrendered their 100 per cent group record.
The Europa League final will be staged on May 20, 2026 at Besiktas Stadium in Turkey and though all hope is not lost for the tournament favourites, this was a massive reality check for Villa’s chances.
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