Aston Villa boss Unai Emery wants his side to win their opening Champions League game against Young Boys on Tuesday in memory of the club's European Cup winner Gary Shaw. Former striker Shaw, who died on Monday at the age of 63, was in the Villa team that triumphed in the competition back in 1982. Tuesday evening marks their return to Europe's top-tier club competition for the first time in 41 years, and Emery feels a win would be the perfect tribute to Shaw. "My condolences to the family and all the supporters at Villa," he said. "We have a memory always, in our training ground a picture of 1982 and the European Cup, he was a protagonist of that. My condolences to them. I think it's sad and we can use it as motivation." The Wankdorf Stadium in Bern has an artificial surface, and Emery has tweaked Villa's training plans for the game against the Swiss champions to ensure they are well prepared for it. "We are going to adapt," he added. "We changed a little bit our usual way for playing in Europe. Normally we have a training session in Birmingham and travel. But we decided to come to train here, to know and to adapt for the synthetic pitch. We're ready and we won't use it as an excuse. I think we can play with the same personality like we do at home." Villa will once again be without Matty Cash as he recovers from a hamstring injury he picked up in August. Leon Bailey missed the win against Everton because of a hamstring issue, but has travelled to Switzerland.

Emery's Champions League Experience

This will be the first ever meeting between Young Boys and Aston Villa. Swiss sides have only won seven of the previous 24 meetings with English sides in the UEFA Champions League (D6 L11), while six of those seven victories were achieved by Basel (one by Young Boys). Young Boys have only won one of their previous six games against English opponents in the UEFA Champions League (D1 L4), losing home and away to Manchester City in the competition last season. Their only victory over an English side came in September 2021, winning 2-1 at home to Manchester United. Aston Villa will become the 11th different English club to compete in the UEFA Champions League, and the first English newcomer since Leicester City in 2016-17 (won 3-0 in their first game versus Club Brugge). This will be Aston Villa’s first game in the European Cup/UEFA Champions League since March 1983, when they were beaten over two legs by Juventus in the 1982-83 quarter-final (1-2 at home in the first leg, 1-3 in the second leg away). Young Boys won their previous home game in the UEFA Champions League, beating Crvena Zvezda 2-0 on MD5 last season. Only once before have they won consecutive home matches in the competition – 2-1 v Juventus and Manchester United between 2018 and 2021. Aston Villa will be the sixth different team Unai Emery has managed in the UEFA Champions League, after spells with Valencia, Spartak Moscow, Sevilla, Paris SG and Villarreal. The only manager who’s taken charge of more than six different sides in the competition is Carlo Ancelotti (8). Unai Emery’s last game in the UEFA Champions League was back in May 2022, with his Villarreal side being eliminated 2-5 on aggregate against Liverpool in the semi-finals (0-2 away, 2-3 at home). That final four appearance was the current Aston Villa boss’ best ever finish in a single season in the competition.

Key Players to Watch

Meschack Elia scored in two of Young Boys’ three home games in the UEFA Champions League last season (v RB Leipzig and Manchester City), netting half of their goals at the Wankdorf Stadium in the competition in 2023-24 (2/4). Ollie Watkins scored five goals in the 2023-24 UEFA Europa Conference League; the joint-most by an Aston Villa player in a major European campaign (level with Gary Shaw in 1982-83 European Cup and John Deehan in 1977-78 UEFA Cup). Young Boys’ Cheikh Niasse averaged more interceptions per 90 (2.9) than any other player in the UEFA Champions League last season (min. 300 minutes played).

Emery's Pre-Match Press Conference

Unai Emery sat down with the media at the Wankdorf Stadium ahead of Aston Villa’s first Champions League league phase clash against Young Boys. Villa come into the match on the back of a 3-2 win over Everton in the Premier League; their first home win of the season having also claimed victory in both of their away games so far this term. Here’s every word Emery said in his pre-match press conference in Bern…

"Now is our moment. I’m excited, I think it’s a good moment for the club to play in the Champions League after a long time, hopefully we can keep it for a long time, that’s our challenge. Our challenge was to get Europe and we got that last year now the challenge is to keep in Champions League. We know how difficult that is with seven or eight teams contending to get in the position in the table to get it. We have to enjoy each match and we are very motivated and we can use our own experiences as coaches and we have played in three competitions and some players have played but the most important experiences for us is the one we had last year together. We want to create a new way together, the first message I can send to them is I want to be competitive. Be competitive like we are in the Premier League and the difficult to compete in the PL and similar in this competition because more or less the bet teams in the world are in the Champions League and the Premier League. We know how difficult Europe is. Last year we learnt a lot about playing away and how difficult it is. Tomorrow I played against some Swiss teams before and it’s really difficult. This is the message."

"[We must] Compete and to face each match being competitive. How far we can go I don’t know but I’m not going to refuse any objective in this competition. We want to start being comfortable on the pitch and play more or less increasing our level. We started well in the Premier League but we have a lot of work to do tactically and individually, be competitive and try to impose our style and idea and game plan. The objective is to try and fix each match."

"I prefer this one. I didn’t play before in this one. I think it needed to change and this one is going to be better because when we played with other teams it was missing something like now play more matches, play more matches during the process. We will play eight matches which is good and going to set everyone in the same table and it’s more fair and it’s even more attractive for the supporters."

"We are going to adapt. We change a little bit our usual way we play in Europe is have a training session in Birmingham but we come to train here to know and to adapt for the synthetic pitch. We’re ready and we won’t use it as an excuse, we can play like we do at home."

"My condolences to the family and all the supporters at Villa. We have a memory always, in our training ground a picture of 1982 and the European Cup. He was a protagonist of that. My condolences to them. Yes, I think it’s sad and we can use it as motivation."

"It is very difficult, we competed very well, we started really quick. It was the second match in the groups. We won 2-4 but it was very difficult. They are playing more or less similar, they have a lot of pace, good in transition and physically as well. I will prepare the match more or less with the experiences I had here and how difficult it was and I will remind the players of that moment."

"I'm trying to be intelligent and help the players as much as possible. We’re adding more players who have been in the international team and that’s a good example of how we’ve increased our level. They’re playing more matches and that’s a higher risk to get injured. Everything in my hands I try to use the players' intelligence and give them a break if they’re tired. One thing that is clear is that they’re playing a lot of matches. In this competition I think it’s better, this is the best competition in the world. The clubs in the Champions League are the best and we have to enjoy. It’s the biggest reward in every league to get in the Champions League, this competition is the best competition for everyone."

"He is in the squad, we will train now and hopefully he will feel good and we’ll decide if he’s playing minutes or in the starting XI but it’s good news."

Tielemans: 'We Want to Make Our Mark'

Youri Tielemans says Aston Villa "don't only want to participate" in the Champions League and are looking to "really make our mark" in their return to the competition. Villa will play in Europe's top club competition for the first time since 1983 when they face Young Boys in Bern on Tuesday. "We achieved something really good last season and now we're here playing Champions League," the midfielder said in the pre-match news conference. "We're really excited to get going. There's always been an ambitious plan before I signed and that's why I bought into it and came to Aston Villa. We've had some really good performances last year and now we're here and we'll try to make the most of it. We don't only want to participate in this, we want to really make our mark in this competition. We've got some really big games and tomorrow will be the start of that. With the new format every game is really important with the points system. We want to make the most of it and hopefully we can get a win here but it will be really difficult." Villa will be the sixth different team manager Unai Emery has managed in the Champions League and Tielemans believes the Spaniards' experience will be key if they are to progress in the competition. "Very important," he added. "He [Emery] has changed a fair bit since he's been at the club and personally he's improved me a lot as a player and as a man. I understand the game even better than before. We saw last year so many times how important he was with his tactical tweaks. He's going to be massive for us."