Several Aston Villa players will be preparing for huge summer tournaments after securing Champions League football this season.
Douglas Luiz is one of the players hoping to make an impact at Copa America and he started for Brazil during their dramatic 3-2 friendly win over Mexico on Saturday.
The 26-year-old is one of Aston Villa’s best players and a key reason why Unai Emery’s men will be playing in Europe’s elite competition next season.
Douglas Luiz‘s call-up for Brazil ahead of Copa America was deserved and his performance against Mexico in Dallas has gone a long way to help him make the starting XI.
There is a lot of competition for those midfield spots. Newcastle United’s Bruno Guimaraes came off the bench and replaced Luiz after 74 minutes, with West Ham United’s Lucas Paquetá and Wolves’ João Gomes also options.
Goal and Sportsdunia analysed and rated Luiz’s performance and he got a thumbs-up, without being overly impressive.
Brazil opened the scoring through Andreas Pereira, before Arsenal’s Gabriel Martinelli doubled his side’s lead after the break and Mexico then hit back with two goals, including what they thought was a stoppage-time equaliser.
That’s when soon-to-be Real Madrid player Endrick, who had a great battle with Ezri Konsa recently, came off the bench and netted the winner.
Sportsdunia handed Luiz a rating of 6.8 and highlighted how he completed 43 out of 45 passes for his country during the game.
Goal added by saying that Villa’s sought-after player ahead of the summer transfer window was ‘steady’ in the middle of the park.
Douglas Luiz starts for Brazil after 3-2 win over Mexico
‘Anchoring the midfield area very well with delivering 43 successful passes out of 45 passes,’ wrote Sportsdunia, with a 6.8/10 rating.
Goal briefly added: ‘Steady in central midfield, without being particularly effective.’
Will Douglas Luiz stay at Aston Villa beyond this summer?
PSR. It’s what Aston Villa fans hate hearing about, at this moment in time.
It could lead to Villa having to sell a player they don’t want to before June 30, with a lot of noise around Luiz and his future at the club.
Luiz has been an ‘invaluable’ player for the club, but this talk of Juventus isn’t going away and you also feel there isn’t any smoke without any fire.
Fans will be hoping that the truth is far from what is being reported because, if Villa do lose their set-piece king, then it’s going to be the biggest body blow for the club since Jack Grealish’s exit.
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