Watch: Tyrone Mings concedes truly BIZARRE penalty on his Champions League debut as he picks up Emiliano Martinez’s goal kick in his own box

Tyrone Mings endured a nightmarish Champions League debut on his return to Aston Villa on Wednesday when he was penalized for bizarrely collecting Emiliano Martinez’s goal kick in his own penalty area.

The crazy penalty, which was converted by Hans Vanaken to give Club Brugge a 1-0 lead in the match, will undoubtedly go down as one of the strangest penalties – and shabbiest from Aston Villa’s perspective – ever scored in the Champions League has been given. League history.

Five minutes into the second half, Martinez dropped the ball in his six-yard box before passing it to Mings to his left, who bent down to pick up the ball and reposition it on the line for the goalkeeper to take again.

Mings was immediately punished for his lapse in concentration and watched in disbelief as referee Tobias Stieler blew his whistle and pointed to the penalty spot, indicating that the Villa defender had handled the ball illegally in the penalty area.

Despite protesting that he assumed Martinez passed him the ball to make the restart, the referee and VAR stuck with the initial decision.

The defender picked up the ball from Emiliano Martinez after his goalkeeper took a goal kick

Unai Emery protested to referee Tobias Stieler, but to no avail as Villa conceded a penalty

The former England international will feel badly affected as Arsenal defender Gabriel Magalhaes got away with making exactly the same mistake in the last Champions League campaign.

After receiving a goal-kick pass from David Raya during Arsenal’s match against Bayern Munich, Gabriel leaned over to pick up the ball and reposition it.

To the dismay of Bayern’s players, the Brazilian was not punished – and Mikel Arteta praised the referee for using ‘common sense’ after the match.

Mings, who suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury to his right knee during a 5-1 defeat to Newcastle on August 12 last year, was called up for his Champions League debut when manager Unai Emery changed his squad.

The 31-year-old former Aston Villa captain accelerated his recovery last month by playing for the club’s U21 side.

Upon his return to the Villa squad, Mings will face much more competition at centre-back than he was previously used to before his injury. Pau Torres, Diego Carlos and Ezri Konsa are all considered first-team regulars under Emery.

The shabby penalty is unlikely to do the former England star any favors as he tries to regain his place, with Villa facing Liverpool, Crystal Palace and Juventus in their next three matches.

To make matters worse for Mings, who has become the first England player to be awarded a penalty on his Champions League debut, fans quickly took to social media to mock the defender after his costly mistake.

Fans quickly took to social media to mock the former England star after his disastrous blunder

Mings had suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury against Newcastle in August 2023

Alongside his X-post with a series of laughing emojis, one fan said: “Tyrone Mings… what are you doing?”

Another added: “Tyrone Mings must be trolling. Wtf was he doing?’

A third supporter, who claimed Aston Villa were treated unfairly compared to Arsenal last season, wrote: ‘Tyrone Mings concedes a penalty for this brain fart of a handball…

‘But if Arsenal does it, PGMOL doesn’t dare to give it, because ‘it’s Arsenal.’ Tell me again how they don’t get favoritism from the officials.”

Aston Villa went on to lose the match 1–0, marking the club’s first Champions League defeat of the season.

Emery’s side are two points ahead of Manchester City and three points ahead of Premier League leaders Liverpool, while Arsenal have two wins and a draw from three games ahead of Wednesday night’s clash with Inter Milan.