Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert has described his recent trip to visit German champions Bayern Munich as a "real eye-opener".

Lambert has plenty of contacts in the Bundesliga from his playing days at Borussia Dortmund and travelled to Germany to spend some time with Bayern and manager Pep Guardiola.

"I know people there. It was absolutely brilliant, first class," PA quotes Lambert as saying.

"We (Lambert and Guardiola) had a really good chat. I also know Matthias Sammer (the Bayern sporting director and former Dortmund teammate of Lambert) as well.

"I met a few people there and it's an absolutely first-class football club. It was brilliant. A real eye-opener."

Villa are 12th in the Premier League after their midweek victory over Crystal Palace which was their first win in 10 games.