While it’s difficult to pick out any Aston Villa player for special praise after our win over Bayern Munich, Pau Torres is arguably worthy of such a mention after his performance at Villa Park on Wednesday night.
It didn’t take long to see the importance of the 27-year-old to Unai Emery after his arrival, both in terms of his defensive capabilities and his influence on our build-up play out from defence.
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Such is the elite level of his composure and technical ability, the Spaniard dictates tempo and possession for us in deep areas, but marries that with the quality of breaking the lines and a high press to set us off into the attacking phase of our play with precision and ease.
Torres has started the season at a really high level, and with the hope that his fitness issues from last season have been ironed out and he’s become more resistant to injuries, he has a fundamental role to play for us this season again across multiple fronts as he continues to grow in importance.
On Wednesday night, he was exceptional. The same could be same for our entire defence as well as Emiliano Martinez and those in front of them, but there was just something about Torres that stood out as he proved to be decisive at the other end too with his assist for Jhon Duran’s winner. Not to mention his first-half effort that was ruled out for offside.
He ended the game with four clearances, three blocked shots, four of four ground duels won, 55 touches and an 88 percent passing accuracy with 36 of 41 passes completed. Add his assist to that mix, and it was another showcase of his class and influence in this Villa side as we secured another memorable result.
Torres is arguably even more important in Europe given his temperament, composure and ability to set the tempo for us against the top sides in the competition when others perhaps become rushed and untidy, and that was never more evident in this encounter as he was simply outstanding.
As with any player, there are elements of his game that still require improvement and an adaptation to become a solid Premier League centre-half, particularly from a physical perspective and his positioning to make up for a lack of pace, but he makes up for that with his strengths and attributes in other areas, and it’s a joy to watch that level of class in the heart of the Villa defence week in and week out.
Tyrone Mings is now on the verge of a return from injury after 14 months on the sidelines due to a serious knee issue, and he will be pivotal in giving us depth and an alternative solution when required. However, in his absence, Torres has firmly established himself as a foundational piece of this Emery team, and he will hopefully continue to guide us to headier heights, both domestically and in Europe.
