ASTON VILLA have been accused of “literally oppressing” Arsenal before their match at Villa Park.
Mikel Arteta‘s Gunners were paying a visit to the Midlands-based outfit as Unai Emery‘s side played their first home game of the season.
Ahead of the match, Villa showed off a new addition to their tunnel in the form of the Champions League trophy they won in 1982.
In a video shared to social media, the trophy was seen in a display case in the middle of the player’s tunnel before the entrance to the pitch.
The trophy marks the club’s return to the Champions League this season after they finished fourth last season – the first time they are competing in Europe’s elite club competition since 1983.
However, fans online were convinced the display was a subtle dig against visitors Arsenal, who have never won the competition.
One fan said: “I swear the league is trying to taunt arsenal. Aston Villa has the champions league trophy on display. Absolute disgusting,” followed by some laughing emojis.
A second said: “Aston Villa literally oppressing Arsenal with a Champions league trophy. Can never be my club.”
A third added: “Aston Villa displaying their champions league trophy so that Arsenal can see how it looks like. Trolling on another level.”
Another said: “Doing this for a game against Arsenal,” followed by a laughing emoji.
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A fifth said: “Displaying what arsenal can’t.”
However, if the display was aimed at disrupting Arsenal then the gambit failed to work as the visitors emerged as 2-0 victors thanks to goals from Leandro Trossard and Thomas Partey.
Arsenal made the Champions League final in 2006 but controversially lost in the final to Barcelona.
They returned to the competition last season after a being absent since 2017.
They made it all the way to the quarter-finals before they were beaten by Bayern Munich.
Villa’s return coincides with a new format being introduced into the Champions League, with teams now playing eight games in an overall league format as opposed to six in four team groups.
They will find out who they will face in their matches in the competition when the draw take place on Thursday.
Each club will play eight matches in the opening phase – against seeded opposition, in a system designed to ensure that teams play opponents of similar difficulty.
The top eight teams in the “final” table will automatically go through to the last 16, where they will be joined by the eight play-off winners of ties between the sides placed ninth to 24th in the table.
Despite there being just eight matches in the opening phase, European matches will be spread over 10 midweek slots.
The new Champions League format also sees the implication of two additional qualifying spots.
They will be awarded to the nations that are top of the “country coefficient” chart each season.
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