Six talking points from Viking victory

Aston Villa’s dream start to the UEFA Champions League continued on Wednesday night.

Victory over Viking FK at Villa Park made it three wins on the spin on the continent for Unai Emery’s men.

It was another special night under the lights in B6, marking a 12th consecutive home triumph in Europe.

Here are the talking points from Viking…

100% record

Villa were top of the league phase table before Peter Christiansen lashed home a volley with six minutes to play.

Nevertheless, the 3-1 success against the Norwegians still moved the club up into second place.

Villa are one of five teams to have won all three matches and are the joint-second top scorers with 12 goals.

Another nice stat to come out of the game was seeing the club become the second-fastest team to reach 20 European Cup/UEFA Champions League victories (in our 30th game), only behind Real Madrid (won 20 of first 29). 

Prepared for more

After the club’s tifo for our first home game of the league phase received widespread acclaim, The Villa Villan was back seven days later.

As the players walked out for kick-off, the club character was seen sailing a Viking ship, resplendent with a Villa shield, in a nod to our Norwegian opponents.

The words 'We've conquered before. We're prepared for more' were emblazoned on the tifo as the club writes a new chapter in Europe.

Barkley bags again

Following his two-goal show against Fenerbahçe, Ross Barkley was on target once more on Matchday Three.

The No.6 rose highest to head home a corner after 23 minutes to open the scoring.

It was reminiscent of a couple of headed goals he’s netted for the club in the Premier League and was his fourth of the season.

After just 12 appearances in 2026-27, he’s equalled his best scoring season as a Villan.

Buendía on the spot

Emi Buendía was back on penalty duty in B6, and he showed exactly why with a cool spot kick.

Barkley netted from 12 yards in our last European outing, but the Argentine assumed responsibility when a penalty was eventually awarded following a foul on Alysson in the first half.

Buendía strolled up to the ball and sent Arild Østbø the wrong way as he rolled a shot into the back of the net.

It was his first penalty since he netted one in the Europa League semi-final second leg versus Nottingham Forest.

Fantastic Four

Villa won a fourth consecutive game in the European Cup/Champions League for the very first time.

Victory in the second leg of our quarter-final tie against Paris Saint-Germain in 2024/25 has been supplemented by a trio of wins this season.

A third goal just past the hour mark also saw the club score 3+ goals in four straight matches in the competition for the first time.

Alysson ignites

There were pleasing performances all over the pitch for the hosts, none more so than down the right-hand side.

Joāo Gomes performed an inverted right-back role superbly, and ahead of him, Alysson shone on the wing.

Following on from his maiden Premier League start at Newcastle, the Brazilian tormented the visitors with his electrifying pace.

The 20-year-old won a penalty, forced the third goal when his cross was turned home by a defender, and had the crowd on its feet with a dazzling run from one end of the pitch to the other in the second half.