Tyrone Mings endured a nightmare Champions League debut on his return for Aston Villa on Wednesday as he was penalised for bizarrely picking up Emiliano Martinez’s goal kick in his own penalty area.
The crazy penalty, which was converted by Hans Vanaken to hand Club Brugge a 1-0 lead in the match, will undoubtedly go down as one of the strangest spot-kicks — and most shambolic from Aston Villa’s perspective — ever to be conceded in Champions League history.
Five minutes into the second half, Martinez dropped the ball inside his six-yard box before passing it to Mings to the left of him, who bent down to pick up the ball and reposition it on the line for the goalkeeper to retake.
Immediately punished for his lapse in concentration, Mings watched in disbelief as referee Tobias Stieler blew his whistle and pointed to the penalty spot, indicating that the Villa defender had illegally handled the ball inside the box.
Despite protesting that he assumed Martinez was passing him the ball in order to take the restart, the referee and VAR stood by the initial decision.
Aston Villa’s Tyrone Mings conceded one of the most bizarre penalties ever on Wednesday
The defender picked up the ball from Emiliano Martinez after his goalkeeper took a goal kick
Mings had suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury against Newcastle in August 2023
The former England international will feel hard done by given that Arsenal defender Gabriel Magalhaes got away with making the exact same error in the Champions League last campaign.
After receiving a goal-kick pass from David Raya during Arsenal’s clash with Bayern Munich, Gabriel leant down to pick up and reposition the ball.
To the dismay of Bayern’s players, the Brazilian was not penalised — and Mikel Arteta praised the referee for using ‘common sense’ after the match.
Mings, who sustained an anterior cruciate ligament injury on his right knee on August 12 last year during a 5-1 defeat against Newcastle, was called in for his Champions League debut as manager Unai Emery rotated his squad.
The 31-year-old former Aston Villa captain stepped up his recovery last month by featuring for the club’s U21 side.
More to follow.
