New Delhi: Unai Emery has quietly been working wonders with Aston Villa ever since he took over the club from a struggling Steven Gerrard back in 2022. The Spaniard, who had previously been chose to be Arsene Wenger’s successor at Arsenal, returned to the Premier League with question marks over his ability to lead in what is seen as arguably the toughest league in the world. Two years on from his appointment, it’s safe to say that not only is he a capable enough manager for the Premier League, but also for the UEFA Champions League.
Aston Villa, a club that have generally been looked on as a mid-table side for the majority of their Premier League stay, have all of a sudden emerged as contenders for the European competitions. Emery etched his name into Villa’s history books forever after guiding them to a top four finish at the end of last season, qualifying them for the UEFA Champions League for the first time in their history. Many fans expected a downturn in performances from the Villans after the lofty highs of last season but Unai Emery’s men have shown that they weren’t merely just one-season wonders.
Aston Villa’s UEFA Champions League Exploits
🔝 Liverpool extend their unbeaten run
📊 Aston Villa move up to 3rd
⚪ Real Madrid secure a big win
The latest Champions League table 👀 pic.twitter.com/UPM1PVGE6r
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) December 10, 2024
Aston Villa’s first season in the UEFA Champions League couldn’t have gone better than it has been going till now. Six games into the new format of the tournament, the Villans currently sit third in the first ever UEFA Champions League table, sitting only behind leaders Liverpool and Bayer Leverkusen. They were given a relatively easy draw when the fixture list first came out but still had to navigate through tough fixtures against Bayern Munich and Juventus.
In their first six games of the UEFA Champions League, they have managed to get four wins that has helped them to a solid start in the campaign. Most recently, they edged out RB Leipzig at their home ground via a late winner to win 3-2 that puts them on the brink of qualification to the next round. They also picked up convincing victories over Bologna and BSC Young Boys, and the biggest of them coming at home over six time UEFA Champions League winners Bayern Munich.
They also managed to secure a draw at home to Juventus with the only blemish on their record being a shock 1-0 loss to Club Brugge. With their remaining two fixtures against AS Monaco and Celtic, Aston Villa would feel confident about advancing to the next round via a top-eight finish, which would give them an automatic qualification to the next round. Clearly, Unai Emery’s European pedigree is doing it’s wonders in the biggest club competition in football.
Aston Villa’s Premier League Campaign
How the Premier League table looks following another busy weekend 👀 pic.twitter.com/2aZssgSaSf
— Premier League (@premierleague) December 10, 2024
While it was expected that their involvement in the UEFA Champions League would affect their domestic campaign, it hasn’t been the case for the West Midlands club. They started the campaign in excellent fashion with wins over West Ham, Leicester City, Everton and Wolves placing them in the top four once again. The emergence of Jhon Duran in this period was another welcome boost for the club as the striker took on the moniker of the ‘super-sub’ extremely well.
Amadou Onana’s addition to the side in the summer proved to be effective with the midfielder filling Douglas Luiz’s void perfectly. Apart from a loss to Arsenal, the club seemed under no real pressure and their performances would be at par with the previous season. However, they did go through a patchy form as they went eight Premier League games with just one win to show for. During that period, they even lost to Brugge in the Champions League, leading to the club being written off by some.
Things turned in their favour once again once December rolled around as they started the month with a convincing 3-0 win over Brentford before following that up with a 1-0 win over Southampton. These results see them get back into the race for the European places as they sit sixth in the league with seven wins in 15 games. Only four points separate them from third placed Arsenal as they sit level on points with Nottingham Forest on 25 points. Unai Emery’s men are firmly in contention to compete for Europe once again and would like to make this a habit for the club.
What can they achieve under Unai Emery?
Jhon Durán was subbed on at 1-1 then put Villa in the lead six minutes later.
Ross Barkley was subbed on at 2-2 then put Villa in the lead two minutes later.
The Unai Emery effect 🧠 pic.twitter.com/PtQoXh6NXL
— ESPN UK (@ESPNUK) December 10, 2024
Unai Emery is a highly successful manager who has managed top European clubs like Arsenal, PSG, Sevilla and Villareal amongst others. He led Sevilla to the only ‘three-peat’ of the UEFA Europa League that has ever been done and won a fourth Europa League title with Villareal in the 2020/21 season, defeating Manchester United on penalties. He won multiple titles as manager of PSG and even took Arsenal to a UEFA Europa League final, their first European final since 2006.
While he hasn’t won any trophies with Aston Villa yet, getting a club like Villa that were a point away from the relegation places when he was appointed into the UEFA Champions League is arguably a bigger achievement than any of the ones listed above. He took the club from a relegation dogfight to the lofty heights of Champions League football in the span of just two years and it doesn’t look like he will stop there.
Villa are still in contention for a top-four finish this season with both Manchester City and Arsenal not looking their best. If Manchester City’s slump continues and Arsenal drop points here and there, Aston Villa could sneak into the top four once again this season. If not top-four, then at least some form of European football is definitely on the cards for them. Coming to the Champions League, going all the way is too big of a task for Villa right now but a favourable draw in the last 16 could see them get to the quarterfinals of the tournament, and they would be a highly significant achievement for the club in their first appearance in the competition.
Many fans expected a downturn in performances from the Villans after the lofty highs of last season but Unai Emery’s men have shown that they weren’t merely just one-season wonders. Football Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
