Belgium need to take notice of Youri Tielemans’ performance in Aston Villa’s 3-2 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League on Tuesday evening.
That’s according to Toby Alderweireld, whose comments on the Aston Villa star have been relayed by DH Net.
Tielemans was one of the star performers in Aston Villa’s defeat to the French champions last night, starring in a more advanced role with Amadou Onana brought back in to sit behind him.
He flourished in the more advanced position, scoring the first of Aston Villa’s three goals and coming close to adding two more with chances in the game.
The role was more of an attacking one than he has been given this season, with Unai Emery having used him as more of a deeper controlling player throughout this campaign.
It meant Tielemans saw more of the ball in advanced areas and was more of a goalscoring threat, linking up with the likes of Marcus Rashford and John McGinn throughout as Aston Villa sought to pull off a major shock, and came close to doing so.
Tielemans himself has admitted he’s happy playing wherever and Alderweireld believes Belgium should be taking notice of that too.
“His performance deserves applause,” he said on VTM.
“He was everywhere, threatening, always one step ahead. He had a fantastic game. We can use Youri Tielemans like that.
“He can also claim that role. He has to demand the ball and play forward.”
