John McGinn says Brugge are a strong team and they need to work harder to get a positive result in the game

John McGinn believes Aston Villa will have to be at their best to win against Club Brugge. Aston Villa manager Unai Emery is no stranger to Club Brugge, having lost 0-1 in the league stage.  

Hans Vanacken's 52nd-minute penalty sealed victory for the Belgian champions, and captain John McGinn knew his side would have to work very hard to get the result they wanted. Asked if there were any benefits to learning from the lessons learned in early November, McGinn said: "It's good for both sides, I don't think our style has changed much."  

"It was a close game but Club Brugge deserved to win. So we know we need to do our best to get the win and we need to play better than we did the last time we played here. It is undeniable that they play particularly well at home."  

"We analysed that game so we know what we didn't do well and what we did well in the game. We are ready for this game and are looking forward to it."  

Aston Villa beat Cardiff City in the FA Cup to secure a place in the quarter-finals and extend their unbeaten home run in all competitions since October to 15 games, thus continuing their European campaign. However, Aston Villa have lost their last three away games and have won just one of their last seven away games.  

John McGinn knows his side need to improve their away form as they prepare for a knockout tie against Club Brugge. "We are aware of the problem and we are not going to ignore it," he said. "We know it's going to be difficult wherever we go, whether it's in the Premier League or in Europe."  

"We've had some good results this season, including a win over RB Leipzig. However, our performances were inconsistent, so we were easily beaten and scored against. Fortunately, we know where the problem lies and have the opportunity to change it."  

“We can’t change the season that has already ended, so we need to win more games and make it harder for the opposition to attack us. We need to start the game with a clean sheet and try to score on the counter-attack. This is what we were good at doing last season both domestically and in Europe.”