Aston Villa now know they will be playing Champions League football next season.
Tottenham Hotspur’s 2-0 defeat at the hands of Manchester City on Tuesday night confirmed Champions League qualification for Villa despite the fact they were unable to beat Liverpool on Monday.
This is a huge achievement, with the club last participating in Europe’s elite competition in 1983 after Villa won the European Cup in 1982.
Similarly to Villa, Newcastle United disrupted the normal Premier League order and qualified for the Champions League last season, themselves ending a 20-year absence.
The Magpies went out of the competition in the group stages, but there is one reason that Villa can be confident of outperforming Newcastle’s Champions League campaign next season.
Unai Emery’s European experience will be key to Aston Villa chances
That reason is their manager, Unai Emery.
Villa fans were delighted when the Spaniard signed a new contract recently, with Bayern Munich linked with a move for the man who has injected real positivity into the club.
Now that their Champions League status is confirmed, Emery has secured his place in Villa folklore and his achievement will undoubtedly be spoken about in years to come.
Speaking after Villa’s comeback against Liverpool, Reds boss Jurgen Klopp was highly complimentary of the Villa manager, saying: “This year Conference League, next year Champions League – Unai (Emery) is doing an incredible job there and is one of the best we have in the business. Wherever he was he had success.”
The Villa boss will not be happy with simply just making up the numbers, though, and the European pedigree Emery has will be crucial to his side’s chances of success in the competition.
Emery has already managed five different clubs in the Champions League – having led PSG, Valencia, Spartak Moscow, Sevilla and Villareal – but has never won the competition.
He has won more Europa League trophies than any other manager, though, with four.
This remarkable achievement includes an incredible run of three consecutive wins with Sevilla from 2014 to 2016 prior to lifting the trophy again with Villarreal in 2021.
Emery will have to use every bit of his experience to navigate whichever group Villa find themselves in, but fans will be confident in their manager’s ability to do so.
Villa more ready than Newcastle for Champions League
Contrary to Villa with Emery, when Newcastle qualified for the Champions League last season it represented the first time manager Eddie Howe had managed in any European competition.
Whilst Newcastle were drawn into the so-called ‘Group of Death’ alongside AC Milan, PSG and finalists Borussia Dortmund, they did finish bottom of the group and subsequently did not even drop into the Europa League.
It could be argued that the Champions League came too soon for Newcastle, with their progress too quick for them to really compete at the top level despite their best efforts.
Despite a similarly meteoric rise for Villa, they are better prepared for the Champions League.
Firstly, they have Emery in charge, but they have also have experience of European football thanks to their run to the Europa Conference League semi-final this season, which will have been an invaluable experience.
The club also benefit from a having a number of players in their squad who have played in the competition previously, with the likes of Diego Carlos, Pau Torres, Lucas Digne, Leon Bailey and Moussa Diaby just some of the Villa contingent with Champions League experience.
A lot of how successful Villa can be will depend on the group they are drawn into, but Villa should go into the competition confident they can make an impact.
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