Can Samuel Iling-Junior play against Aston Villa in the Champions League?

When clubs loan out players, it is usually to help them gain first team experience, to enable them to play football regularly or sometimes even to relieve them of their payroll.

But clubs don’t send players on loan to play against them – and they certainly don’t enjoy being punished by a player they let go temporarily.

However, this could happen with Samuel Iling-Junior. Aston Villa sent him on loan in the summer to Bologna, the team they face in the Champions League tomorrow night (Tuesday).

Can Iling-Junior play? What are in the rules? Has this happened before? The Athletics Eduardo Tansley explains.

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A bit of background…

Iling-Junior is an England U21 international who moved to Juventus from the Chelsea academy in 2020. After playing nine games for Juventus’ U-23 Serie C team Juventus Next Gen, he made 36 first-team appearances and scored two goals for the Italian side.

The left-footed player has typically been deployed as a left wing-back for Juventus, but is also comfortable as a left winger.

Aston Villa signed Iling-Junior from Juventus last summer in a €22 million ($18.6 million; $23.6 million) deal that also included Enzo Barrenechea. Both players received five-year contracts.

Villa midfielder Douglas Luiz took the opposite approach and joined Juventus on a contract worth a guaranteed €50 million – with a further €1.5 million in add-ons.

Iling-Junior took part in pre-season games for Aston Villa, but was not included in the first two Premier League matchday squads against West Ham and Arsenal. Shortly afterwards he returned to Serie A on loan to Bologna for a season.

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Why can he play against Villa?

Remember when Philippe Coutinho – still a Villa player, albeit one on loan with Vasco de Gama in Brazil – scored two goals as Bayern Munich beat parent club Barcelona in the 2019/20 Champions League quarter-finals defeated 8:2?

Or when Thibaut Courtois was part of the Atletico Madrid team that knocked out Chelsea in the 2013/14 Champions League season? The same rules apply here. In UEFA competitions, loan players can play against their parent club.

Chelsea tried to dissuade Atletico Madrid from playing Courtois by including a transfer fee in his contract every time he appeared against his parent club.

UEFA found this “null, void and unenforceable” and in breach of its disciplinary rules. These strictly prohibit any club from attempting to “exercise any influence over the players that another club may (or may not) field in a game.”

Players can only appear for one club in UEFA competitions in a season. The only condition is that they can play for one team in the first, second or third qualifying rounds or play-offs and then for another from the group stage. Or if a player joins the bench (but does not play) for one team and is later registered for another team during UEFA periods, he will be allowed to play for the new team.

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Would the same apply in the Premier League?

No. Players cannot play against their parent club during the loan period.

This changed after Lomana LuaLua scored a late equalizer against his parent club Newcastle in a 1-1 draw while on loan at Portsmouth in the 2003/04 season.

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How did he play for Bologna?

Iling-Junior has not yet started for Bologna, but has made three appearances in Serie A and scored a goal on his debut against Como. At just 21 years old, he is about to make 40 appearances in Serie A (39).

He was on the bench in both of the club’s Champions League games and came on as a substitute in the 79th minute against Liverpool. Bologna’s first left winger was Swiss international Dan Ndoye.

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How did both teams perform in the Champions League?

Aston Villa got off to a perfect start, winning both of their opening games. The 3-0 away win at Young Boys was followed by the memorable 1-0 victory at Villa Park over Bayern Munich, a repeat of the 1982 European Cup final.

Bologna are yet to score in the Champions League but picked up a point in a 0-0 draw at home to Shakhtar Donetsk in their opening game. They then suffered a 2-0 defeat to Liverpool at Anfield.

(Top photo: Daniele Badolato – Juventus FC/Juventus FC via Getty Images)