'Sheer stupidity': Tyrone Mings slammed for what he did in Aston Villa's Champions League clash

Tyrone Mings has come under fire for a bizarre incident that saw a penalty go against Aston Villa in the Champions League.

The Villans had travelled to the Jan Breydel Stadium in Belgium to take on Club Brugge in their latest European challenge but struggled to get off to a positive start. After an uneventful first half, Villa went a goal down shortly after the restart after Mings gifted the Belgian side a golden opportunity.

The defender, who had hoped for a solid performance to mark his Champions League debut, left fans and professionals alike scratching their heads after a ‘brain freeze’ moment inside his own box. After Emi Martínez took a short goal-kick to Mings, the 31-year-old picked the ball up and gave it back to the goalkeeper.

The discussion among the commentators was that Mings may have been unaware the ball was in play but it resulted in a Club Brugge penalty nonetheless. After a quick VAR confirmation, the spot-kick was given and Hans Vanaken capitalised on the gift to put his side 1-0 ahead.

Tyrone Mings handball criticised

BBC Sport’s Chris Sutton was quick to weigh in on the bizarre event, describing it as a ‘ridiculous’ moment from Mings, who had made just one appearance this season prior to the Champions League clash.

“That's ridiculous. Emi Martínez has put the ball down to take the kick and passed the ball to Mings, who scoops the ball up with his left hand. It is crazy from Mings, absolutely crazy. What is he thinking? It's a brain freeze from Mings. Sheer stupidity.”

Stephen Warnock also had his say on Mings’ error and compared it to a similar situation with Arsenal.

“Arsenal got away with doing the same thing against Bayern Munich in the Champions League last season — maybe this time the referee has seen that the Brugge players are closing Mings down? I want to look at it again but I don't think Tyrone Mings has looked at Emi Martínez at all when he took the goal-kick, which is why he thinks he can pick it up because he does not know it has been taken.”

Despite the potential blurred lines, there was no forgiveness and Club Brugge benefitted from what could well be the easiest goal they will put on the board this season.

The clash ended 1-0 to the Belgian side, with Villa showing an overall ‘lethargic’ display, according to Sutton. Prior to the penalty, the BBC Sport football expert had backed Martínez as the reason Villa were still in the clash but their struggles to connect in the final third cost them a big three points.

The defeat in Belgium is the first time Villa have dropped points in the Champions League this season.