At A Glance
Aston Villa and Legia Warszawa go head-to-head in the Europa Conference League on Thursday night.
Both sides are level at the top of Group E on nine points, with the Polish side edging ahead courtesy of their 3-2 win against Unai Emery’s side on matchday one.
Villa recovered from that loss by winning their next three matches in the competition, twice seeing off AZ Alkmaar and earning a 1-0 success versus HŠK Zrinjski.
And the hosts come into the game on a high after beating Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 in the Premier League on Sunday.
Legia played out a 2-2 draw with Warta Poznan in their last outing on Saturday, fighting back from two goals down.
Warszawa have picked up back-to-back wins in the Conference League, getting the better of HŠK Zrinjski home and away.
Matchday One Meeting
Aston Villa’s Group E campaign got off to a rocky start in Warsaw as Legia showed their class to triumph in front of a passionate home support.
A frenetic opening to the match saw both sides score inside the first six minutes, with Jhon Durán cancelling out Paweł Wszołek’s goal.
Ernest Muçi made it 2-1 on 26 minutes before the visitors fought back once again to equalise via Lucas Digne.
Warszawa forged ahead in the opening stages of the second half courtesy of Muçi’s second of the evening, and Villa were unable to take advantage of late chances for Jacob Ramsey and Moussa Diaby as they slipped to defeat in Poland.
Three To Watch
Paweł Wszołek
Wszołek terrorised Aston Villa on matchday one, scoring the opening goal and adding an assist in Legia’s 3-2 win.
An international teammate of Matty Cash, the 31-year-old plays on the right-hand side of midfield and looks to put plenty of crosses into the box.
Wszołek, who has 14 caps for Poland, is one of Warszawa’s chief creative threats, racking up 13 assists already this season.
Legia’s No.13 is in his second spell with the club, but he began his career at city rivals Polonia Warszawa before heading to Italy with Sampdoria.
A move to Hellas Verona followed before Queens Park Rangers signed him after a successful loan spell, and he made 113 appearances for The Rs before returning to his homeland with Legia.
Josué
The team are captained by Portuguese international Josué, who counts Porto, Braga and Galatasaray among his former clubs.
Usually found in an attacking midfield role, Josué is his team’s chief creator, looking to provide chances for top scorer Tomas Pekhart and his fellow strikers.
The 33-year-old has found a home at Legia in the latest stop on a career path that’s taken him to 14 clubs and five countries.
Josué signed from Israeli side Hapoel Be'er Sheva in 2021 and has since made over 100 appearances for Warszawa, captaining them to two trophies.
The playmaker played times for Portugal’s age-group sides before winning four senior caps between 2013-2014.
Ernest Muçi
Muçi proved to be the match-winner against Villa in Poland when he netted twice.
The 22-year-old showed his ability with a pair of fine finishes, with his second goal a particularly eye-catching strike as he beat Emi Martinez from the edge of the box.
Muçi has added a further six goals to his season’s tally while playing predominantly as an attacking midfielder who breaks into the box and supports the strikers.
Capped seven times by Albania, Muçi began his career in his homeland with KF Tirana, making his senior debut as a 16-year-old in 2018.
He won the league with Tirana in 2019-20 before transferring to Legia in February 2021, where he helped the team win the Ekstraklasa a matter of months after joining.
Form Guide
Legia have compiled a five-game unbeaten run in all competitions, winning three times during that sequence.
Successive draws in their last outings, against Lech Poznan and Warta Poznan, has left Warszawa sixth in the league table after 15 matches.
Last season’s runners-up hit a sticky patch in October, when they lost five of their six matches, but have since picked up.
Consecutive wins against HŠK Zrinjski has kept them in the hunt for top spot in the Europa Conference League group stage.
The Boss
“We’ve faced two matches at home where it was very difficult to win. We won both matches at the end of the match, and they were very good examples and experiences for myself, the players and for everybody of the difficulties we are going to face in the match tomorrow and in the competition if we are progressing. Tomorrow against Legia Warszawa both teams are going to play trying to take another step ahead in this competition and see who is first in the group. We want to face this match trying to get a small amount of revenge for the match we played there, trying to impose our capacity, our skill and our gameplan on the pitch.”
Unai Emery
