Club Brugge star rejects Aston Villa claim and makes 'we don't have to' admission

Belgium international left-back Maxim De Cuyper played down suggestions that Club Brugge's Champions League clash with Aston Villa is a 'must-win', admitting there would be no shame to lose to Unai Emery's side on Wednesday night.

Brugge have won one and lost two of their opening three games after beating Sturm Graz between defeats to Borussia Dortmund and AC Milan. They come into their match with Villa having won their last three matches, while Unai Emery's side were defeated heavily by Tottenham at the weekend and are winless in their last three in all competitions.

But after beating BSC Young Boys, Bayern Munich and Bologna in their first three Champions League games, Villa are leading the league phase table and will be looking to retain their 100 per cent record in the competition at the Jan Breydel Stadium.

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"They have nine points from nine, but I don’t think it [beating Villa] is impossible," De Cuyper said. "They are a strong opponent, but our mindset is to get three points at home.

"Maybe we can be happy with one point, but we want three. Them having nine from nine points doesn’t mean automatically that they will beat us tomorrow.

"All the matches are as hard as tomorrow," De Cuyper responded when asked if Brugge need to win on Wednesday. "We have to win as much as possible and every point is one point more. It wouldn't be an embarrassment to lose to Aston Villa, it must be said. We don’t have to [win], but we really want to."

De Cuyper received his first call-up to the Belgium national team back in June and has since made five appearances under Domenico Tedesco, playing alongside Villa duo Amadou Onana and Youri Tielemans.

"No, I haven’t messaged them," De Cuyper said. "I spoke with Youri before that he looked forward to coming back to Belgium in this game, but we haven’t spoken about the match specifically together."

Asked about Tielemans qualities, De Cuyper said: "During my period with the Red Devils - and I think he is still young - he is a leader and a guy who can take a club on his shoulders and take you along.

"He is a leader in the group and in those games I played, I learned about his leadership qualities. He is top quality always."

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