Three games, three wins, zero goals conceded. Aston Villa are absolutely flying in the new-look UEFA Champions League this season. Manager Unai Emery has performed nothing short of a miracle guiding the Villains to one of their best-ever starts to the 2024/25 season. Aston Villa fans deserve the right to be delighted with life right now, and it’s fair to say they’ve started dreaming.
So far, Aston Villa has defeated Swiss side Young Boys, German giants Bayern Munich, and Italian Serie A side Bologna — all with flying colors.
“The last game in the Champions League (against Bayern Munich), was such a momentous occasion. It was unbelievable, it was a night I will remember for the rest of my life” said Luke Robinson on the Aston Villa Fan Channel.
On Tuesday, Aston Villa dispatched Bologna 2-0 to claim the top spot of the new-look Champions League table, where they currently have nine points out of nine. Although they may be leap-frogged by other teams on Wednesday, depending on results, this is still a testament to the impact Unai Emery has had on the squad. This is further proven by the fact that Villa is also currently in fourth place in the Premier League, aiming for a second consecutive finish in the fabled ‘top 4’.
John McGinn scored the opener in the second half, where his indirect free kick was missed by everybody and ended up bouncing into the net. The Holte End burst into McGinn’s song, and you could feel the belief begin to swell inside Villa Park. Breakthrough youngster John Duran, who signed from Chicago Fire in 2023, added to the scoreline and ultimately allowed Villa to take all three points.
Villa aren’t just winning these games, they’re winning with flair and confidence. But how far can this team go in the competition?
The next fixtures for Villa in this first stage are Club Brugge (away), Juventus, RB Leipzig (away), Monaco (away), and Celtic. Outside of Juventus and RB Leipzig, we can see Aston Villa being the favorites for these fixtures. Monaco will also present a challenge, who have two wins and one draw in three matches played, including a 2-1 victory over Barcelona. The new Champions League table consists of 36 teams, the top eight teams automatically advance into the knockout rounds, while 9-24 play a qualifier round to decide the remaining spots. Aston Villa can qualify in the top eight in this current form.
Assuming they advance to the knockout rounds, Villa fans will be further buoyed by the fact Unai Emery is perhaps the perfect manager for European knockout games. The Spaniard won an impressive four Europa League trophies — three of them consecutively with Sevilla. He knows what it takes to win a gritty knockout match — and if he can combine Villa’s know-how attitude with his tactical nouse, we can easily see Villa continuing to surprise people.
