The game that should not be: Aston Villa v Maccabi Tel Aviv Europa League match preview and team news
There's a circus in the town and Villa are right in the middle of it thanks to the intervention of political parasites
When Aston Villa played their most recent league phase fixture in the Europa League, they went into it on the back of an extended winning run and had their tails up.
Villa lost that game against Go Ahead Eagles in Deventer. Manager Unai Emery understandably shuffled the pack but a poor performance on the night ensured that the team got a punch in the chops from opposition who really fancied it on the night.
The next Europa League match couldn’t be more different. Villa lost to Go Ahead Eagles in their latest European outing and were defeated by Liverpool in their most recent Premier League game.
If complacency was an issue a few Thursdays ago, it won’t be this week. Villa need a reaction after falling short last time out and Saturday’s loss at Anfield proved that there are still fundamental weaknesses in the side.
High quality European opposition can exploit that. Maccabi Tel Aviv are neither high quality nor European. There’s no excuse for not beating them at home.
It is the only acceptable outcome on Thursday and the absurd distractions around the match won’t come into it when the performance and result are judged after the fact.
There’s some leeway in the new league phase but Villa have already used some of it by losing one of their first three games.
Aston Villa team news
Emi Buendía – Could be available after missing the Liverpool match on Saturday with an injury.
Tyrone Mings – Limped off at Liverpool with a hamstring injury that’s likely to keep him out of action until the new year.
Youri Tielemans – Tielemans has returned to training and appears to be on track for a return after the international break.
Andrés García – Remains sidelined through injury with no stated return schedule.
Ross Barkley – Ineligible for the Europa League.
That sounds like a UEFA problem
Everything about this fixture has been a total shambles.
The authorities in Birmingham triggered a disgraceful response from politicians and parasites by refusing to sanction the fixture with away supporters in attendance on safety grounds.
Thursday’s opponents are on the offensive now, claiming there was no clear reason given for the ban on their supporters, but some assumptions can be made about the factors that went into the city of Birmingham’s decision.
Maccabi Tel Aviv’s away support bring risks in their own right, regardless of anyone’s opinion on their behaviour. They also attract protest and counter-protest. The police assessed all this and more.
“No reason given” is bullshit.
Villa have been slandered by disingenuous outsiders who immediately, deliberately and irresponsibly conflated an operational decision with antisemitism.
These pieces of shit lied about our club and our city right out in the open and we’re not talking about a few nobodies at the political fringes but the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition.
Keir Starmer and Kemi Badenoch bear the responsibility for any damage, pain or death that occurs in relation to this football match.
They fanned the flames and they knew perfectly well that they were conflating violent and racist Maccabi Tel Aviv football hooligans with Jewish football supporters and actively placing Villa supporters in amplified danger.
If anything happens on Thursday it is their fault.
The cruel thing about it from a Villa perspective is that it was even drawn in the first place.
Israel’s clubs should not be playing in Europe and UEFA’s failure to make a decision to that effect at a continental level left clubs and cities to deal with the planning and blowback of their visits.
Birmingham was left to fend for itself and the minimum it should have been able to expect was for the actual fucking Prime Minister to undermine it in the most dangerous, most stupid, most dishonest way possible.
Aston Villa v Maccabi Tel Aviv is an 8.00pm kick-off on Thursday 6th November.
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