UEFA has published its official explanation for the penalty Aaron Wan-Bissaka conceded during Aston Villa’s 3-2 Champions League victory over Club Brugge.
Villa led 3-1 at half-time after goals from John McGinn, Emi Buendía and Nicolas Jackson, but Club Brugge were handed a route back into the game after the break.
Referee Sandro Schärer initially allowed play to continue before VAR intervened over a possible Wan-Bissaka handball.
UEFA has now confirmed exactly why the decision was overturned.
UEFA explain Aston Villa penalty decision
The governing body’s refereeing experts said Villa’s No.29 touched the ball with his left hand while it was:
“in an unnatural position and away from the body.”
UEFA categorised the 61st-minute incident as “Decision overturned: Penalty awarded” in its newly published Champions League VAR technical explanations.
Wan-Bissaka is Villa’s No.29, with the defender starting at right-back in Bruges after Matty Cash missed the trip through muscle soreness.
Nicolò Tresoldi converted the resulting penalty to reduce Villa’s advantage to 3-2. Unai Emery’s side then survived a difficult final half-hour to collect three points from their opening league-phase match.
Our Club Brugge 2-3 Aston Villa match report details how Villa held on after their impressive first-half performance.
UEFA increasing VAR transparency
UEFA says it will publish selected technical explanations throughout the 2026/27 Champions League.
The explanations are prepared by refereeing experts on duty, with significant incidents potentially accompanied by images or video to clarify why a decision was reached.
That has now provided Villa supporters with a definitive explanation for the biggest refereeing decision of Tuesday’s game.
Wan-Bissaka was replaced by Lamare Bogarde seven minutes after the penalty, having started in place of the injured Cash.
Villa ultimately protected their advantage and opened their European campaign with a victory, but UEFA’s assessment confirms VAR was satisfied Wan-Bissaka’s arm position met the threshold for handball.
The full starting side can be found in our Aston Villa confirmed XI against Club Brugge.
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