Unai Emery gives verdict on Tyrone Mings error after Aston Villa's Champions League loss

Mings, making his European debut, picked up the ball from Emi Martinez’s goal kick to give away a spot-kick seven minutes into the second half.

Hans Vanaken converted the penalty as Brugge ended Villa’s perfect start to the competition.

Emery said: “It’s the biggest mistake I made [we made] in my career as coach.

“We can mistake in the build up, but we work to try and control the games through possession. 

“We did the first half fantastic. We lost one or two balls, but this mistake is very, very strange. It’s not for Tyrone Mings or Emi Martinez (to explain). It’s only happened one time in all my life. Today.

“We have to forget quickly. This mistake is not going to happen again for a long time – I don’t think in my life no more.”

The incident was similar to one in last season's Champions League when Arsenal defender Gabriel picked up a goal kick against Arsenal

Swedish referee Glenn Nyberg chose not to give a penalty on that occasion saying it was a "kid's mistake" and wouldn't have been in the spirt of the game.

Wednesday's referee in Brugge, Germany's Tobias Stieler, saw no such problem though Villa's Ezri Konsa later queried why Mings, booked in the first half, hadn't been shown a second yellow card.

"If it’s a deliberate handball then he needs a second yellow," said Konsa. "He’s on a yellow already so why not send him off for that then? It killed the game. It’s a mistake, it’s not a mistake we want to make but nothing we can do, we’ve got to move on from it."

Brugge boss Nicky Hayen believed it was a clear penalty but added: "It is a trainer’s nightmare. We knew it immediately because he took the ball. 

"In the end it’s a penalty. If we had to concede something like that it would have been very sour but it is a present for us that we accepted gladly." 

Though the concession of the penalty was bizarre, the defeat was all Villa deserved after another below-par display. The loss was their third in the space of seven days after they were knocked out of the Carabao Cup by Crystal Palace and then beaten 4-1 in the Premier League by Tottenham.

Brugge's players covered over four kilometres more than Villa and Emery said: “We played the first half more or less like we planned, we didn’t concede a lot but sometimes they had the ball possession, they got into our box two or three times dangerously.

“We had some corners eventually and we knew before the match to win away, we have to be passionate, we have to try to avoid mistakes. “e made the biggest mistake in the second half.”