Aston Villa is continuing its wonderful run this season. In the Premier League, it is only two points off the table-toppers Liverpool. In the UEFA Champions League, Aston Villa beat the formidable Bayern Munich 1-0 at Villa Park on Wednesday.
Beating Bayern in a European competition is a commendable feat for any club, more so for Villa, who are playing in the Premier club competition of Europe after many, many years. Jhon Durán scored the only goal of the match against Bayern to earn three valuable points for his team.
Bayern was the more dominant team in the match though, with 70% ball-possession. However, Aston Villa did really well to finish the match with a clean sheet and keep the Bayern forwards at bay.
Durán and Watkins Performing Very Well
Durán has scored six goals in nine matches for Villa this season, which makes him one of the best-performing players in England. Ollie Watkins has scored four goals in seven matches this season after having scored 27 goals last season.
Aside from the above two, Villa also has players like Youri Tielemans, Emiliano Martínez, Ian Maatsen and Lucas Digne, who have all played well consistently in the Premier League for the last few seasons. Above all, Villa is coached by Unai Emery, who has turned things wonderfully well since taking the charge of the club in 2022.
Villa finished fourth last season under Emery’s tutelage, which was a very good performance, given the stiff competition in Premier League. With considerably less budget and spending power, Villa finished above Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea. As a result, none of the aforementioned three clubs is playing in Champions League this season.
Villa Has Challenging Fixtures
Emery’s men will take on Manchester United, Fulham and AFC Bournemouth in their next three Premier League matches. They will also face Bologna and Club Brugge in Champions League, within the next month.
The team is in quite good form, but playing consistently well in Europe is a tough task. A team has to be among Europe’s best in order to qualify from its group in Champions League. Villa definitely has the requisite quality to qualify from its group, with only Bayern having a better team on paper in that group.
The challenge for Emery will be to keep his team inside the top four in Premier League this season. Tottenham is playing really well this season, as is Chelsea. Hence, Villa cannot afford any slip-ups in their upcoming matches, nor is there any room for complacency.
Emery has won the Europa League multiple times as the Sevilla manager – also achieving the same with Villarreal – and has enough pedigree to guide his current team to greater success.
However, it also has to be remembered that Villa has won the European Cup once in the past, albeit more than 40 years ago. Being successful in Europe is not new for them, but big success has eluded them in the recent past. It remains to be seen whether they are able to reach greater heights this season.