Debut in 6-0 rout: Goretzka makes his Aston Villa bow in the Champions League
Weeks after his move to Birmingham, Leon Goretzka has played for Aston Villa for the first time. The long-time Germany international came on in the 83rd minute of the 6-0 win over Fenerbahçe.
Archive image · Photo: Steffen Prößdorf (Stepro); Ausschnitt: Nehme1499 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped and resized)
Leon Goretzka has made his competitive debut for Aston Villa. Coach Unai Emery brought him on for Ross Barkley in the 83rd minute of Wednesday night's 6-0 (3-0) Champions League win over Fenerbahçe Istanbul. For the former Bayern player it was his first appearance after a longer break and since his move to Birmingham a few weeks ago.
Villa's scorers included Barkley and Nicolas Jackson, Goretzka's former Bayern team-mate, with two goals each. Johan Manzambi scored once on his Champions League debut and set up another.
Goretzka was a regular in the Germany team for years. He was not in head coach Jürgen Klopp's squads for the first four Nations League games in September and October. After the 0-0 draw in Greece, Klopp announced he would pick a much smaller squad for November – "the door is open for everyone", he said, according to SID.