Unai Emery insists Aston Villa must learn how to handle European football and refused to blame his changes after their sloppy 3-2 defeat at Legia Warsaw. Ernest Muci’s second-half winner clinched a deserved victory for the hosts to ruin Villa’s Europa Conference League debut. Jhon Duran and Lucas Digne twice levelled for the underwhelming visitors in the first half after Pawel Wszolek and Muci scored for Legia. It ranked as one of the worst performances in Emery’s 11 months in charge, with the manager making five changes, including giving a debut to Barcelona loanee Clement Lenglet. He said: “I believe in our squad and our players and we could have lost this game with other players on the pitch. “Every match away in Europe is difficult and this is a new step where we have to learn. “We still have the possibility to react again, we are going to play another five matches. It’s not a good result but we have to learn and have to understand how we’re going to face the next matches and this competition. “We have to build the squad who will play a lot of matches and we will need players in the squad to give them opportunities to play, to use their qualities. “In the second half we started well but in one click, we concede another opportunity and they score a goal. “They had a plan, they did good and we couldn’t stop them in some moments.” Legia struck after just two minutes in the Group E opener when Wszolek converted Patryk Kun’s cross. Duran levelled four minutes later, though, nodding in after Kacper Tobiasz turned Nicolo Zaniolo’s drive onto the bar. It should have given Villa a platform but a shoddy, slow, performance continued to undermine their tag as one of the tournament favourites. Livewire Muci punished them again after 26 minutes when Villa were left floundering on the flanks and he fired in Wszolek’s centre. But Villa came back, however undeserved, and Digne’s deflected volley ensured they went into the break level. Parity did not last long, though, when Muci went sent running at Ezri Konsa and Calum Chambers, made fools of them both and found the net off a post. This time there was no way back and Marc Gual almost added a fourth when Emi Martinez parried Bartosz Slisz’s shot and Chambers cleared. Jacob Ramsey, Moussa Diaby and Youri Tielemans tried to find an unlikely leveller but victorious Legia held on. “You should not underestimate the underdogs, Mostar will also be a hot game, a Balkan team with a lot of emotions,” said boss Kosta Runjaic, after Mostar beat AZ Alkmaar 4-3 in the other group game. “It’s surprise for me but it’s also a surprise we won against Aston Villa, I’m happy about it, this three points in the first game are very important for us. We were lucky in some moments but you need luck. “We will see how we do in the next game, we will face a very ugly Alkmaar in a couple of weeks.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Jurgen Klopp plays down value of 50th European win after Liverpool beat LASK Harry Kane happy with Bayern Munich start in Europe – Thursday’s sporting social Durham are Division Two champions after bowling out Worcestershire

The Atlanta Braves need a right fielder, among other things. A reunion with Jason Heyward could have solved that issue.

VIDEO: TJ Watt punched a Ravens receiver.

How many teams will make the College Football Playoff for the 2023 season? Find out here!

Barcelona manager Xavi explains why Lamine Yamal left the pitch in the 1-0 Champions League win over Porto.

The Columbus Crew came back from two goals down to beat top-seeded FC Cincinnati 3-2 after extra-time in a thrilling Major League Soccer Eastern Conference final, booking a...

The Indiana Hoosiers and Purdue Boilermakers will both be sitting at home when bowl season begins next month

Sin bins should be trialled at higher levels of football following their successful implementation in the grassroots game, the sport’s lawmaking body has agreed. Temporary dismissals of players for offences such as dissent and specific tactical fouls were backed by the International Football Association Board (IFAB) at its annual business meeting. IFAB board members also supported a proposed trial whereby only the team captain may approach the referee in certain major game situations. Tuesday’s meeting in London will shape the agenda for the organisation’s annual general meeting, which will be held on March 2 in Glasgow, where any proposed changes to the laws of the game will be considered for approval. Protocols and a system for trialling will now be developed. Board member Mark Bullingham, the chief executive of the Football Association, said: “When we were looking at sin bins – protocol clearly has to be developed – the areas we were looking at were dissent, where it’s worked very, very well in the grassroots game in England. “We’ve also spoken about other areas, particularly tactical fouls. We're then looking at whether we should extend it into other areas, such as tactical fouls Mark Bullingham on the use of sin bins “I think frustration for fans watching games when they see a promising counter-attack that’s ruined by that and the question of whether a yellow card is sufficient for that has led to us looking at whether that should be involved in the protocol as well. “The starting point was looking at player behaviour and dissent – we’re then looking at whether we should extend it into other areas, such as tactical fouls, as well.” Sin bins were introduced across all levels of grassroots football from the 2019-20 season in an attempt to to improve levels of respect and fair play in the game. The rule change was implemented up to step five of the National League system and tier three and below in women’s football. Pierluigi Collina, chairman of the FIFA referees committee who sits on the IFAB’s technical subcommittee, said the proposed trials would “very probably” involve professional football. Subject to approval at the AGM in March, they could begin as early as next season. “The idea is to go deeper into all of the details because it’s easy to say we do (it) and it’s a bit more difficult how to regulate everything,” he said. “But the idea is to start working on this as soon as possible to provide those who would be involved in the trial a protocol to be used. “The idea is to get it soon. “The trial was very successful in a grassroots competition. Now we are talking of a higher level, very probably professional or even high professional football. “We need to draft something that works or is worthy for top football.” Improving player behaviour was at the heart of the Heathrow meeting, which was chaired by Ian Maxwell, the chief executive of the Scottish Football Association. Discussions included support of measures to prevent players surrounding match officials, which has become a common sight in the modern game, by limiting access to the referee to team captains at certain times. Board members also agreed any new VAR measures should not result in any additional delays to matches, while supporting the need to continue developing semi-automated offside technology. Additionally, they discussed potential strategies to address time lost in matches and tactics aimed at disrupting the game’s tempo, including in relation to the six-second restriction for goalkeepers, delaying restarts and managing injuries. A possible law amendment, which would result in handball offences for which penalties are awarded being punished in the same way as fouls in terms of yellow and red cards, was a further consideration. Read More Ronnie O’Sullivan reels off six successive frames to advance at UK Championship ECB boss admits challenges remain for cricket after positive impact report Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta feels he still has something to prove in Europe England’s Zach Mercer installs oxygen chamber at home to combat ankle injury Top two tiers of women’s football poised to break away from Football Association Tom Daley back on British Swimming’s World Class Programme in Olympic boost

If Kirk Cousins is done for the year, who should the Vikings go after to replace him?

The five strikers Real Madrid could sign to replace Karim Benzema - ranked.

Premier League, Serie A & Bundesliga clubs have been informed Daichi Kamada is now available on a free transfer after AC Milan pull out of previously agreed deal.

Rafael Nadal has pulled out of the French Open because of a lingering hip injury that has sidelined him since January and says that he expects 2024 to be his last year on the tennis tour