In the playground of the rich and famous, Aston Villa were left counting the cost of a sluggish start. The Prince of Wales and Nassef Sawiris – the Villa co-owner whose superyacht would not look out of place round the corner at Port Hercules – were among those in attendance in Monaco. Villa roused but never truly recovered from Wilfried Singo’s early headed goal and their hopes of qualifying automatically for the last 16 will go down to the wire when Celtic visit next week.
An hour before kick-off Unai Emery was serenaded by the Villa supporters stationed under the iconic arches of this stadium on the French Riviera, but this was a rare night when his side fell flat, a mirror-image of their result at Club Brugge in November and reminiscent, too, of that pale display.
