Credit: Imago

Max Wilkins

Fri 20 March 2026 7:10, UK

Aston Villa midfielder Douglas Luiz can count himself lucky after the win against Lille on Thursday.

The Brazilian started at Villa Park and helped his side on their way to a 2-0 win and a place in the Europa League quarter finals.

John McGinn netted the opener before Leon Bailey found the net later in the second half to add to Ollie Watkins’ header in the first leg.

Those goals certainly eased a nervy atmosphere in B6, while things could have been so different if certain decisions had gone a different way.

Luiz may have performed well for Villa against Lille, but he may be grateful to have avoided conceding a penalty in the Midlands.

Lille should have had penalty for Douglas Luiz challenge

The Villa Park faithful will be pleased with what they saw from their loanee midfielder after some difficult showings in recent weeks.

He looked better alongside Amadou Onana and John McGinn in midfield as he put in a positive shift against the French outfit.

His performance certainly would have been looked upon differently if he had handed Lille the perfect opportunity to get back into the game.

Luiz brought down Hakon Arnar Haraldsson after challenging him from behind and seemingly getting none of the ball.

Former PGMOL chief Keith Hackett believes a penalty should have been awarded to the away side as the midfielder brought down the Iceland international.

Speaking exclusively to Villa News, Hackett said: “The line is part of the penalty area, and the illegal use of the arm is careless and should have been penalised by the award of a penalty kick.”

It looks as if Luiz got away with one, but Villa won’t care after securing victory over Lille and progression in the Europa League.

Luiz made his own luck for Aston Villa

Sometimes, you need a bit of luck if you’re going to secure big wins in big games, and that is exactly what the Villans got on Thursday.

As showcased by Sofascore, Luiz put a shift in for the claret and blue outfit and utilised his 82 touches to keep his side ticking over.

That saw him thread one key pass, creating one chance for his teammates outside of his own one shot in B6, which was blocked.

He also added 12 defensive actions and nine duel wins that only add to an excellent performance on a day when Villa really needed their best players to show up.

Luiz probably should have had a penalty call go against him, but it feels like some luck has been long overdue for Unai Emery and Co.