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A short walk down Trinity Road at about 4.30pm was all it took to understand this was no ordinary football match.
On a normal matchday at Villa Park, there is not much happening three-and-a-half hours before kick-off. You might see a few home supporters heading for pubs around the ground, or groups of away fans who have arrived extra-early to avoid the traffic.
Ahead of Thursday's Europa League meeting between Aston Villa and Maccabi Tel Aviv, the tension was palpable. Police vans and uniforms were everywhere, with 700 officers deployed. Where normally fans can stroll untroubled through the iron gates on Trinity Road, this time credentials were demanded before entry could be granted.
The backdrop to this game is well known but it is worth recalling. When West Midlands Police and the local safety advisory group determined that tickets should not be offered to Maccabi Tel Aviv fans on safety grounds, the move was condemned by leading voices including Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.
As the Government put pressure on the authorities to reverse the decision, Maccabi took it from their hands by deciding not to accept their ticket allocation. But that was never going to be the end of the matter.
In some of the streets near the ground, there were posters and placards bearing slogans like 'Give Zionism The Red Card'. Pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian protesters gathered at separate ends of the ground. Closer to kick-off, the atmosphere outside turned nastier, with reports of protesters trying to storm police cordons and gain access to the stadium. Six arrests were made in the build-up to kick-off.
Donyell Malen (right) scored Aston Villa's second in a 2-0 win over Maccabi Tel Aviv
However, the match was overshadowed by politics with Pro-Palestine protesters pictured outside Villa Park hours before the hosts' Europa League match against the Israeli side
A protester pictured with a 'stop starving Gaza' placard on Thursday night outside Villa Park
Inside the ground, it was eerie. As the teams warmed up, what would have been the away section was occupied by a dozen or so children – UEFA mascots for the match.
The bloated structure of European football these days strips matches like these of sporting meaning. With six points from their opening three games and four more to play after this one, Villa knew that even two more slip-ups would not do fatal damage to their qualification chances.
By contrast, Maccabi had collected only one point from their first three games – yet even defeat here would not rule them out of a spot in the play-offs.
At its best, this place can crackle with energy and few who attended last season's Champions League tie against Paris Saint-Germain will ever forget it. There was no such verve here and the firework display shortly before the teams walked out felt incongruous.
Home fans tried to lighten the mood by mocking the 'empty seats' in the away end – knowing full well, of course, that there would be no supporters in that part of the ground.
The players cannot fail to have clocked the unusual build-up and just like their supporters, Villa did not seem themselves. A fast start and an early goal would have livened the crowd but Villa delivered neither. John McGinn, who usually sets the tone on such occasions, was left on the bench with one eye on Sunday's Premier League fixture against Bournemouth, as England defender Ezri Konsa captained the side ahead of Emi Martinez.
'Are we trying to bore the protesters away?' remarked one supporter, observing the slow start. Donyell Malen saw his shot deflected wide and at the other end, Osher Davida's effort – also deflected – crept just past the post. Morgan Rogers twice went close and Malen should have done better from inside the six-yard box. But after Martinez had saved well from Dor Peretz, Villa moved ahead in first-half stoppage time.
Rogers and Jadon Sancho combined nicely and when Rogers slipped it through, Ian Maatsen did superbly to fire in off the bar from virtually on the dead-ball line.
Though Sancho played a clever role in the goal, his Villa career is still to take off and it is difficult to see how he becomes a regular under Unai Emery.
Signed in haste at the end of the summer transfer window, it is unclear how much Emery actually wanted the Manchester United winger and when Villa line up against Bournemouth, few would be on Sancho being named in the starting XI.
At least Sancho is having the odd game. His fellow loan signing Harvey Elliott is having a miserable time and though the deal with Liverpool contains a £35million obligation to buy at the end of the season, it is unlikely Elliott will make enough appearances to trigger that clause.
With little room for spending due to financial rules, Emery will not want to use a significant part of his budget on a player he does not appear to count on. It would not be surprising should Elliott return to Liverpool in January.
He watched on from the bench as Villa doubled their lead early in the second half as Elad Madmon brought down Konsa and Malen drove home the penalty.
Earlier, Peretz had wasted an excellent chance to equalise for Maccabi but this was not a match that will live long in the memory. Indeed, it felt as though both sides simply wanted to get the game out of the way. Given the backdrop, you can hardly blame them.
