How Joao Gomes proved he's Aston Villa talisman-in-waiting vs Bayern Munich
Aston Villa were beaten by Bayern Munich on Friday, but Joao Gomes certainly left his mark on the game.
Unai Emery's side took on the German Bundesliga champions in Hong Kong in a 1pm kick-off UK time.
The Villains pushed Vincent Kompany's side, giving them a real good game but ultimately losing by two goals to one.
Kim Min-jae gave Bayern the lead after 36 minutes before Luiz Diaz made it 2-0 in the 73rd minute, with Gomes grabbing a late consolation goal with just under 10 minutes left on the clock.
Emery went with a 4-4-2 in this one, deploying Brian Madjo and Evann Guessand as the two strikers as well as handing 19-year-old George Hemmings a start down the right.
However, it was Gomes who was Villa's best player on the pitch, and his performance proved Emery has added a truly elite central midfielder to the Villains' engine room.
Why Joao Gomes showed all-round class in Aston Villa vs Bayern Munich
Signed from rivals Wolves in a deal worth up to £38million this summer, that already looks like an Aston Villa steal for Gomes.
The 25-year-old made his Villa debut as a second-half substitute against Porto last month, but wasn't part of the friendlies against Real Sociedad or Pathum United respectively.
He would start and play the full 90 minutes against Bayern on Friday afternoon though, and his display will have left Villa fans purring.
Gomes' late goal was an excellent finish, arriving unmarked at the edge of the box, from which he took one touch with the outside of his right foot before firing a powerful prodded effort into the far corner of the net past Manuel Neuer.
It was the least his performance deserved too, as evidenced by his hugely impressive numbers from the match.
As per Sofascore, Gomes played two key passes, completed 85 per cent of his passes accurately, took three shots on goal and took 76 touches.
Meanwhile, he also carried the ball 25 times, won three fouls, won two of his three tackles, made four recoveries, one interception, one clearance and won six ground duels from his 12 attempts.
Gomes also won his only aerial duel, was dribbled past on zero occasions and played five accurate long balls.
This wasn't against a weakened Bayern midfield either, as Kompany deployed two of German internationals in Tom Bischof and Aleksandar Pavlovic respectively, so for Gomes to put up these numbers against them made his display even more impressive.
Aside from Gomes, how did Villa perform overall against Bayern, and did they match the German giants in most key areas?
Why Emery will be massively encouraged by Villa display
Bayern are one of world football's elite teams, and so this was always going to be a big ask for Aston Villa to beat them, friendly or otherwise.
What it could've shown is how far Emery's side are off the very best Europe has to offer, with their upcoming Champions League campaign in mind.
Instead, it provided solid evidence that Villa can have a deep run in the Champions League this coming campaign, as the B6 boys weren't disgraced by Bayern whatsoever.
Per Sofascore, Villa recorded 44 per cent possession in the game with Bayern registering 56 per cent, whilst both teams created just one big chance.
In the first half, Villa had four shots to Bayern's seven, whilst overall, Emery's men won 30 tackles as opposed to their 22.
The Villains took 21 touches in the Bayern box compared to their 20 in Villa's, whilst the Premier League side won 61 per cent of the duels in the game.
So, between Gomes running the show in midfield to an all-round good team performance against one of the world's best teams, Emery must be coming away from this one with an immense feeling of pride.
But not just that, as Aston Villa should take great confidence from this going into their Super Cup clash with Paris Saint-Germain next Wednesday too.