A selection of Aston Villa fans have been reacting on social media after the Villa Park club were targeted by Wolverhampton Wanderers supporters in their Europa League tie with Slovan Bratislava on Thursday night.
Wolves travelled with 200 supporters for their Europa League Group Stage tie on Thursday that was supposed to be played behind closed doors, after UEFA sanctioned the Slovakian champions after fans made racist chants during a Play-Off game with Greek side PAOK (BBC).
Slovan Bratislava were able to get around the sanction to have an expected crowd of 5,000, though, as UEFA rules allow accompanied children aged 14 and under to attend. Wolves’ were also able to take a small number of supporters with them, providing they held category one tickets.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s Black Country side would win the game 2-1 thanks to goals from Romain Saiss and Raul Jimenez, as they fought back to leave Slovakia with three points after falling behind to an early strike by Andraz Sporar in the 11th-minute.
The Slovan Bratislava crowd did little to rally behind Jan Kozak’s side, either, which saw that Wolves’ small clutch of supporters in attendance mocked their opposite numbers.
Those in attendance also used the chance as an opportunity to look ahead to Wednesday’s Carabao Cup clash with Villa, and fans could be heard chanting messages targeted toward the Villa Park faithful, as reported by the Birmingham Mail.
Villa fans seemingly did not understand why Wolves’ supporters were singing about the Claret & Blue side while in Slovakia, though.
why are they chanting about us in Slovakia ?
— uzi skeeter (@villaseason) October 24, 2019
Nothing…who are they??
— Ravyj (@rav0604) October 25, 2019
They’re trying their hardest to make a rivalry.. Bless ‘em.
— ?? (@RHUTV170) October 24, 2019
Yeah merciless. Who is Wolverhampton again?
— Matt P (@MattParish76) October 25, 2019
Poor obsessed little club near Gornal
— John Colclough (@jtccolclough) October 25, 2019
Others also suggested the Molineux natives will be ‘in for a shock’ on Wednesday night in front of a packed Villa Park, as the Carabao Cup clash is a sell-out.
They’re in for a shock on Wednesday night then
— Andy AVFC UTV? (@andyb050771) October 24, 2019
My response is who cares, may the best team win, 2-0 to villa ?
— Chris.J. (@ChrisJA1976) October 24, 2019
But the main reaction from Villa fans to Wolves’ chant has been to merely question why the Molineux faithful even see a rivalry between the two clubs.
Villa have won 54 of the 125 meetings between the pair (11v11), while Wolves have taken 39 wins. The Villans also won the last meeting 4-1 in March 2018, albeit coming after back-to-back defeats.
History also plays a matter, as Villa have won seven top-flight titles, seven FA Cups and one European honour, to Wolves’ three top-flight crowns and four FA Cups (TransferMarkt).
This is my response, when they can achieve this,then they can start squawking pic.twitter.com/4H3pBaokn8
— Robert Glaze (@Bobbyglaze18) October 24, 2019