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Aston Villa are back in Europe’s top competition for the fist time since 1983 with this season’s campaign technically being their first in the Champions League following the 1992/93 rebrand. Unai Emery’s team finished fourth in the Premier League last year after a superb campaign and a tense finish saw them edge out Tottenham for the final spot.
Villa are the 11th English team to feature in the Champions League and will have their work cut out for them. In a revamped format that sees teams competing for different league positions, Villa – who kick off their campaign tonight against Young Boys – will also take on the likes of Juventus, Bayern Munich and Celtic in this first stage of the tournament.
Emery’s side will look to build on their run to the Europa Conference League semi-finals last year and will take plenty of momentum into the match having come from two goals down to beat Everton 3-2 at Villa Park on Saturday. In contrast Young Boys lost their opening three league games of the season and sit bottom of the Swiss Super League so should be low on confidence.
Follow all the Champions League action with our live blog below:
Where to watch every Champions League fixture on TV this week
All times UK (BST)
Tuesday 17 September
17:45 BSC Young Boys v Aston Villa FC – TNT Sports 1
17:45 Juventus v PSV Eindhoven – TNT Sports 2
20:00 AC Milan v Liverpool FC – Amazon Prime Video
20:00 FC Bayern München v GNK Dinamo – TNT Sports 2
20:00 Real Madrid C.F. v VfB Stuttgart – TNT Sports 1
20:00 Sporting Clube de Portugal v LOSC Lille – TNT Sports 4
The sad reality of Aston Villa’s Champions League return
Just a few months before Unai Emery arrived for his first stint in English football, his famous predecessor gave a comment that now feels so striking. It was October 2017 and Arsene Wenger was speaking at another angry Arsenal AGM, as the criticisms that would ultimately lead to his replacement by Emery escalated. The French great attempted to explain the lack of recent success by pointing to the modern economic infrastructure of the sport.
“If I ask today, could Aston Villa win the European Cup, you’d say, ‘you’re joking’.”
Some at the AGM quipped that at least Aston Villa had actually won one, in 1982, when Wenger’s Arsenal hadn’t. That was part of his point, though. The game was becoming dominated by the super clubs, with the economic threshold to compete raised by oligarchs and state ownership.
European experience key foundation to build on says Emery
The Aston Villa manager believes his team will benefit from their experiences in the Europa Conference League last season as they begin their Champions League campaign tonight.
He said: “We can use our own experiences as coaches because we’ve played in the Europa Conference League, Europa League and the Champions League. And some players as well have played.
“The most important experiences for us are the experiences we had last year, here together. We want to build and create a new way here together for Aston Villa, with the players we are adding, the first time playing in Europe here or last year.
“The first message I can send them is I want to be competitive and face each team, tomorrow Young Boys and afterwards Bayern Munich, being competitive like we are in the Premier League.
“The difficulty is to compete in the Premier League, being there in the tough positions like last year.
“And similarly, we have to do that here in this competition because, more or less, the best teams in the world are in the Champions League and the Premier League.
“Last year we learned a lot about what it’s like to play away, against other teams in other countries. Here in in Switzerland, I played before against other teams here, and always it’s very difficult.”
Unai Emery on Villa playing in Europe
As part of his prem-match media duties, Aston Villa boss Unai Emery was asked how it feels for the club to play in the Champions League.
He replied: “We’re excited. It’s a good moment for the club after a long time, playing again in the Champions League. Hopefully we can keep it for a long time again.
“It’s really our challenge, and my own challenge was to get Europe; last year we got it playing Europa Conference League and now in the Champions League, trying to keep it.
“We know how difficult it is. To play again in the Champions League is, more or less, through the Premier League and there are 7-8 teams being favourites or contenders to get it.
“But we have to try to enjoy each match, each moment and now we are starting in this competition, we are, of course, very motivated.”
Young Boys line-up to face Aston Villa
Young Boys XI: Von Ballmoos, Athekame, Camara, Zoukrou, Hadjam, Niasse, Lauper, Monteiro, Ugrinic, Colley, Ganvoula
Aston Villa line-up to face Young Boys
Aston Villa XI: Martinez; Bogarde, Konsa, Pau Torres, Digne; McGinn, Tielemans, Onana; Ramsey, Rogers, Watkins
BBC reveal line-up for Champions League highlights show as new Match of the Day presenters confirmed
The weekly show will air on Wednesday evenings, with a bonus Thursday night show in the opening round of fixtures, which are spread across three days rather than the customary two.
Young Boys vs Aston Villa prediction
Aston Villa have started the Premier League well, while Young Boys are bottom of the Swiss League after the opening six matches. That alone should signify which way this match is likely to go.
Aston Villa to win 2-1.
Young Boys prepare to take on Aston Villa
The Swiss side have been put through their paces in the build up to this match. Can they find a way to overcome Aston Villa?
Young Boys vs Aston Villa predicted line-ups and latest odds
Here’s how we think the two teams will line up for the Champions League clash this evening:
Aston Villa XI: Martinez, Digne, Pau Torres, Konsa, Bogarde, Tielemans, Onana, Ramsey, Rogers, McGinn, Duran
Young Boys XI: Von Ballmoos, Blum, Camara, Husic, Hadjam, Niasse, Lauper, Elia, Ugrinic, Colley, Ganvoula
And looking at the bookmakers, Villa are the big favourites to triumph despite making their debut in the Champions League and playing away from home. Here’s a look at the latest odds:
Young Boys 4/1
Aston Villa 7/10
Source: independent.co.uk
