Aston Villa returning to Rotterdam is special for the club – and for two players more than anyone
Thursday’s Europa League visit to Rotterdam is a return to the stadium where Aston Villa enjoyed the greatest success in their history.
Villa won the European Cup final against Bayern Munich in 1982, a match that was played at De Kuip, the legendary home of Dutch football titans Feyenoord.
Unai Emery‘s team are in the Netherlands for the first away game in this season’s Europa League, this time against Feyenoord themselves on Thursday evening.
It’s an emotional return for Villa as a club but also for a pair of Villa players who are hoping to get onto the pitch against a club where they learned their trade.
Zépiqueno Redmond was signed directly from Feyenoord in the summer and is set to be sidelined for some time as a result of a serious knee injury suffered on loan at Huddersfield Town, but Ian Maatsen and Lamare Bogarde have both featured in recent first team fixtures.
Former Feyenoord academy players
Feyenoord was the first major club for both Maatsen and Bogarde, who started their path to professional football by joining Feyenoord’s academy.
Maatsen didn’t make the grade but progressed at local rivals Sparta Rotterdam before joining PSV two years later and signing for Chelsea, from whom Villa acquired him, in 2018.
Bogarde remained with Feyenoord until the age of 16 and was brought in by Villa in 2020. He discussed his move, his progress and his contract situation with the club’s media team recently.
“They told me the plan was to become a large club in England. When I came, the club was on the verge of relegation. Now they [were] in the Champions League,” said the 21-year-old.
“There have been so many people who had difficulty understanding my choice at the time, but look at what is now coming from those plans.
“So, I expected it somewhere. You never know how it will really really go, but this is what you hope for when you go abroad at a young age.
“Whenever you sign a new contract somewhere, you feel appreciated – they would like to keep you at the club.”
A bright Oranje future at Villa
Bogarde has taken steady steps towards regular first team football while Maatsen, the former Borussia Dortmund left-back signed as competition for Lucas Digne, has found the France international to be a formidable rival for the position.
Nevertheless, Maatsen has played for Villa 50 times in rotation with Digne and has started three of the five games he’s appeared in this season.
Bogarde has been thrust into the spotlight with regular minutes this season and has impressed while covering for the injuries and absences of Boubacar Kamara, Amadou Onana and Youri Tielemans in midfield. He can also play as a central defender but has looked at his best alongside captain John McGinn.
He has featured in five matches this season and started in the Premier League matches against Everton and Fulham.
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