Why Liverpool has Simon Mignolet to thank for Champions League success

Liverpool moved to the top of the Champions League standings with Tuesday's thumping victory over Bayer Leverkusen at Anfield, and Aston Villa's loss to Club Brugge ensured the Reds stayed there at the end of game-week four.

Villa's loss means there is an outright leader in the new 36-team Champions League table for the first time, with the lead having been shared by multiple teams during the first few game-weeks.

The Villans' defeat came about in bizarre fashion, as the referee awarded a penalty against Tyrone Mings after the defender picked the ball up inside his own penalty area.

Mings clearly thought that Villa goalkeeper Emi Martinez was passing him the ball to take a goal-kick for Villa, but Martinez had in-fact already taken the goal-kick himself, meaning the ball was in play when Mings picked it up.

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The referee immediately pointed to the spot and the penalty was dispatched by Hans Vanaken to hand Brugge the lead. Former Reds goalkeeper Simon Mignolet, who now plays for Brugge, kept a second clean sheet of the Champions League season to secure victory for his new club, and in doing so allowed Liverpool to stay at the top of the standings.

Mignolet was at Liverpool for six years between 2013 and 2019, playing 204 times for the Reds before returning to his home country with Brugge, where he has made 260 appearances.

The 36-year-old spoke after his side's win against Villa and offered his take on the bizarre penalty situation involving Mings. "I am very aware that such situations can occur," Mignolet said. "In modern football, it often happens that it is the center-back who clears the ball. That’s why I always try to throw the ball to him by hand, because you never know how the referee will interpret it if I play it with my feet, and then the defender takes the ball."

Of Brugge's start to the Champions League campaign — the Belgian club currently sits in a play-off position with six points from four games — Mignolet added: "It’s still a long way to go. However, it’s already magnificent for Brugge to have six points after four Champions League matches against top-level opponents."