Aston Villa Fall to Porto as Hull City Impress and European Giants Stumble in Pre-Season Action

Aston Villa’s pre-season preparations took a hit in Lisbon on Saturday as the reigning Europa League champions fell 2-1 to Porto, while newly promoted Hull City produced a commanding performance in Slovenia ahead of the 2026/27 campaign.

Unai Emery’s side, who are adjusting to significant squad changes following Morgan Rogers’ departure to Chelsea in a record British transfer and the loan arrival of Alejandro Garnacho, found themselves trailing early in the Portuguese capital. William Gomes opened the scoring for Porto inside five minutes before 17-year-old Luka Lynch drew Villa level with a neat finish shortly after the 15-minute mark. However, Brazilian winger Pepe restored Porto’s lead to hand the hosts victory.

Villa lined up with Marco Bizot in goal alongside Matty Cash, Modou Kéba Cisse, Tyrone Mings, Ian Maatsen, Lamare Bogarde, Ross Barkley, Leon Bailey, Luka Lynch, George Hemmings, and Bradley Burrowes. Emery utilized his bench heavily in the second half, handing minutes to young prospects and fringe players as fitness levels remain the priority over early results.

In contrast, Hull City enjoyed an ideal start to their warm-up schedule. Playing their first friendly of the summer in Slovenia, the Tigers recorded a comfortable 3-0 victory over Turkish club Konyaspor. Enis Destan and Abu Kamara netted either side of a Konyaspor own goal to secure the win. Striker Oli McBurnie saw a late effort ruled out for an alleged foul, denying Hull a four-goal margin.

Hull manager made full use of his squad depth, fielding an entirely different XI after the break. Jack Butland started in goal before giving way to Dillon Phillips, while summer additions and experienced figures like Paddy McNair, John Egan, and Matt Crooks all gained vital match sharpness. Warm-up matches are critical for newly promoted sides attempting to bridge the tactical and physical gap before the competitive kickoff.

Elsewhere, Everton fought out a 0-0 draw against Championship outfit Bolton Wanderers. Head coach David Moyes saw Thierno Barry’s first-half goal disallowed for offside in a low-tempo encounter. Moyes introduced five changes at halftime—bringing on Tom King, Michael Keane, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Vitalii Mykolenko, and Tyrique George—but neither team managed to break the deadlock in a game that gradually faded.

Pre-season action continues across the globe as clubs fine-tune tactics ahead of the Premier League opening weekend on August 21. Later on Saturday and into Sunday morning, Liverpool meet Sunderland in Nashville, while Leeds United take on Wrexham in Tampa, showcasing the growing commercial reliance on North American tours during the summer interval.

Across European football, several heavyweights experienced mixed fortunes. Scottish champions Celtic surrendered a two-goal advantage to draw 2-2 with Ruben Amorim’s AC Milan. Camilo Duran maintained his prolific form with a third goal in as many games before setting up James Forrest for Celtic’s second inside 28 minutes. AC Milan responded in the second half through a double from teenager Francesco Camarda, including a penalty, to rescue a draw.

In Germany, major surprises unfolded. Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich, led by Vincent Kompany, fielded a youth-heavy lineup with an average age barely over 17 years for Wehen Wiesbaden’s 100th anniversary match. Ibrahim Ati Allah put the third-tier hosts ahead before Tom Bischof converted a penalty to level for Bayern. Lukas Schleimer scored late to hand Wiesbaden a 2-1 win. Borussia Dortmund suffered an identical 2-1 defeat to third-division Düsseldorf, despite 17-year-old Mathis Albert giving Dortmund a first-half lead before second-half strikes from Fabian Schleuse and Anas Slimani turned the game around.

In Belgium, Juventus ground out a 1-0 victory over Standard Liege courtesy of a cleverly engineered set-piece routine, with Andrea Cambiaso setting up Fabio Miretti from an edge-of-the-box free-kick.