Alex Moreno Injury: Unai Emery confirms defender will miss Aston Villa’s clash against Lille

Arnav KholkarModified on: 18th April 2024 08:23 AM

Aston Villa defender Alex Moreno is set to miss his team’s UEFA Europa Conference League quarter-final second-leg tie against Lille. Manager Unai Emery confirmed this news in his pre-match press conference as the Villans will have to adapt without the Spanish fullback.

Alex Moreno Injury: Extent and expected return date

Speaking to Aston Villa’s club website ahead of their trip to face Lille, Emery delivered some key squad updates after their win against Arsenal. While Douglas Luiz returns to the fold having served his suspension, the Villans will be without defender Alex Moreno for their next match.

Unai Emery has confirmed that Álex Moreno is unavailable to face Lille tomorrow after suffering a small calf injury.
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) April 17, 2024

Emery said,

“Alex Moreno has a small injury in his calf and he’s going to be out. He’s not available for tomorrow and maybe it will be two or three weeks.”

Moreno last featured in Aston Villa’s 2-0 win against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium. He came on as a 79^th minute substitute to replace Nicolo Zaniolo, who went off with an injury. However, Moreno seems to have picked up his injury in during training considering the timing of Emery’s update.

The Spaniard joined Villa from Real Betis in January 2023 on a three-and-a-half-year deal and has been used in rotation along with Lucas Digne. So far, he has made 47 appearances for the club and has chipped-in with three goals and three assists.

Lille vs Aston Villa: Story of the first leg

Villa made a great start to their first leg against Lille at home, scoring after just 13 minutes via Ollie Watkins to grab a 1-0 lead. Despite not having much of the ball, they looked composed out of possession and each player executed their role well.

Aston Villa players celebrate John McGinn’s goal to make it 2-1 against Lille. (Getty Images)

The second half saw Lille concede a bit more possession as the stats were nearly in the balance. Aston Villa doubled their lead after 56 minutes as John McGinn converted a pass from Leon Bailey to make it 2-0. Lille had a goal by Gabriel Gudmundsson cancelled shortly after but they scored in the 84^th minute via Bafode Diakite to still remain in the tie.

The second leg will be played at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy on March 18.

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