What was supposed to be a heartwarming moment for Tyrone Mings turned into a nightmarish start to the Champions League, after the Englishman’s ‘brain freeze’ handed Aston Villa a first defeat of the competition.

On his return after 14 months out due to an ACL injury, Mings, 31, completed his remarkable rise from non-league Chippenham Town to the Champions League.

But the centre-back’s debut in Europe’s premier club competition will not be one he will remember fondly after he inexplicably collected the ball in the penalty area, scoring Club Brugge a penalty.

In the 50th minute of the match, Emiliano Martínez sent the ball to Mings on a goal kick, who advanced, collected the ball and put it back into the corner of the penalty area, appearing to believe that Martínez had kicked the ball to him by mistake.

After a review of the VAR, German referee Tobias Stieler pointed to the spot.

The converted spot-kick was the only goal of the match as Villa’s perfect start to the competition came to a screeching halt.

“His mistake is completely strange. It’s the biggest mistake I’ve witnessed in my career,” Aston Villa boss Unai Emery said.

“This has only happened to me once in my life. Today.”

Villa goalkeeper Martínez tried to persuade the referee after the match that he had made a mistake, but former Socceroo and Aston Villa goalkeeper Mark Bosnich said he had no choice .

“Once the goal kick is taken, the ball is alive and if someone picks it up with their hand, it’s quite possible a penalty,” Bosnich told Stan Sports.

Villa defender Ezri Konsa, however, said it was a mistake, made worse by the referee not showing Mings a second yellow card.

“He’s already on yellow, so why not fire him for that?” Konsa told TNT in a post-match interview.

“It’s part of football. Our first defeat in the Champions League and we have to move on, we can’t be too down about it.

“I didn’t see it, I just saw the players running towards the referee saying handball.

“It kills the game. If it’s a deliberate handball, why not give him a second yellow? It’s a mistake but we have to learn from it.”

Former Celtic striker Chris Sutton told the BBC it was “ridiculous”.

“That’s crazy from Mings, absolutely crazy. What is he thinking? It’s brain freeze from Mings.

“Tyrone Mings could have done it when he was three.”

Former Leeds United player Lucy Ward said on TNT it was a “disaster” and a “farce”, while former England striker Peter Crouch said “it was very, very weird.”

“Even if you don’t think it’s live, you don’t put your hands on it,” Crouch said.

“It’s a crazy moment. The moment he did it, we all shouted that it was a penalty.”

Incredibly, this is not the first time in recent years that this has happened in the Champions League.

Last season, Arsenal defender Gabriel went unpunished for collecting a short pass from goalkeeper David Raya in the first leg of the quarter-final against Bayern Munich.

Thomas Tuchel, then Bayern coach, later criticized the referee who said he would not award a penalty for a “childish mistake”.

“Arsenal managed to do the same thing against Bayern Munich in the Champions League last season. Maybe this time the referee saw that the Brugge players were closing down Mings?” » said former Aston Villa defender Stephen Warnock on the BBC.

“I don’t think Tyrone Mings looked at Emi Martinez at all when he took the goal kick, that’s why he thinks he can get it back because he doesn’t know he was fired.”

Aston Villa face Liverpool at Anfield in the Premier League this weekend.