John McGinn has received further recognition for his performance in Aston Villa’s Champions League victory over Club Brugge.
The Villa captain opened the scoring after 11 minutes as Unai Emery’s side secured a 3-2 victory in Belgium on Tuesday night.
McGinn met Pau Torres’ pass with a controlled first-time finish which curled beyond Yann Sommer and into the far corner.
UEFA have now selected the strike as their Champions League Goal of the Day for 8 September, with McGinn becoming the first winner of the award during the 2026/27 league phase.
The governing body’s official Champions League Goal of the Day tracker lists McGinn’s effort from Villa’s 3-2 victory as the opening selection of the new campaign.
John McGinn adds another Aston Villa achievement
The recognition adds to an already significant night for Villa’s captain.
McGinn’s opener was his 12th goal for Aston Villa in major European competition, moving him clear as the club’s outright record scorer on that stage.
We looked at the milestone in more detail after McGinn broke Aston Villa’s European goals record in Bruges.
His goal also ended Villa’s difficult start in front of goal.
Emery’s side had failed to score across their opening three Premier League fixtures before McGinn found the net inside 11 minutes in Belgium.
Emi Buendía and Nicolas Jackson followed before half-time, with Villa eventually surviving a Club Brugge fightback to record their first victory of the season.
The full story of a dramatic evening is available in our Club Brugge 2-3 Aston Villa match report.
Reuters also confirmed Torres supplied McGinn for the opener before later assisting Jackson as Villa established a 3-1 half-time advantage.
McGinn earned an 8.5 in our Aston Villa player ratings from the Club Brugge victory after another influential European display.
Villa’s captain left Bruges with three Champions League points, a new club record and now UEFA’s first Goal of the Day award of the season.
