After a 41-year absence from Europe’s top club competition, Aston Villa are back in the big time – and in some style. On an evening when Villa supporters paid tribute to late club legend Gary Shaw, Unai Emery's team delivered a performance the former striker and his fellow 1982 European Cup winners would have been proud of to defeat Swiss champions Young Boys 3-0 in Bern.
Youri Tielemans, Jacob Ramsey and Amadou Onana got the goals on a comfortable night for the visitors, who would have won by a greater margin had Ollie Watkins and Jhon Duran not had efforts disallowed by the video assistant referee (VAR).
The result marks the latest milestone in Villa's remarkable transformation under Emery, who has now triumphed in 89 European matches since 2009-10 - more than any other manager apart from Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho.
"He's an absolute genius," former Villa defender Stephen Warnock told BBC Radio 5 Live. "When you go into the Champions League, you need a manager who is adaptable and understands tactics, and knows how to change things very, very quickly.
"It's worked out so well for him and for Aston Villa. He's magnificent."
Villa took a while to acclimatise to the Stadion Wankdorf’s artificial surface but never looked back once Tielemans had put them ahead, and can now look forward to welcoming German giants Bayern Munich to Villa Park next month in a repeat of their victorious 1982 final.
Tuesday's game was Villa's first in Europe's top club competition since 1983.
Emery, who led Villa to the Europa Conference League semi-finals last season, was quick to dedicate Tuesday's win to Shaw, who died on Monday from injuries sustained in a heavy fall.
"We [continued in] the Champions league the way they finished 42 years ago," he told TNT Sports. "This win is for Gary Shaw and his family."
"It was a difficult game. Our experiences last year [in the Europa Conference League] showed us that. We focused very well for 90 minutes to be consistent. We were adapting to the pitch and always respected [our opponents]."
It has taken Emery less than two years to guide Villa from 16th place in the Premier League to the Champions League's new-look league phase – a transformation few believed possible when the Spaniard replaced Steven Gerrard in November 2022.
"This has been my dream for a long, long time," said Villa fan Paul, who travelled to Bern with fellow supporters Tony and Scott to watch their side make a long-awaited return to Europe's biggest stage. "We actually came without tickets. [We've] had a bit of a party."
Tony, meanwhile, is confident Emery's team can claim a place in the last 16 of the competition, which gets under way in March next year.
"If you can get 10 or 11 points from your games, you've got a good chance of progressing," he said. "Villa are growing. We're back where we should be."
Unai Emery won the Europa League for the fourth time with Villarreal in 2021, beating Manchester United in the final
A cursory glance at Emery's remarkable continental record suggests Villa fans' optimism is far from misplaced.
Only three managers – Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti and Giovanni Trapattoni – have won more European trophies than Emery, who has taken charge of more major European club competition matches - 163 - than any other coach.
His four trophies all came in the Europa League but Emery has now managed six different clubs in the Champions League, becoming just the sixth coach to do so after Mourinho, Ancelotti, Ronald Koeman, Claudio Ranieri and Rafael Benitez.
He reached the semi-finals with Villarreal in 2021-22, giving Liverpool a major scare in an eventual 5-2 aggregate defeat.
His Premier League record in charge of Villa is no less impressive, with only Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool collecting more points than the Villans' 126 since Emery's appointment.
"This manager has proved time and time again that he has the know-how to take the club far," former England defender Rio Ferdinand told TNT Sports.
"He is instilling high standards and is success-driven – and he has won trophies throughout.
"There is a genuine belief at this club that they will take some scalps."
A Return to Glory
Football clubs are all about history - a club’s history is one of the main reasons why their fans care so much about it. Villa’s history weighs heavier than most. Specifically, for modern Villa players, there is 1982, an achievement that fills their supporters with pride, but sets a mighty yardstick by which their successors are matched.
Equalling that really would be something extraordinary, but the fact that Villa have returned to this level sets the current cohort of players - and of course their manager - apart from all the others who have followed the European Cup winners. The competition, after all, has changed since then in almost every respect, up to and including its name. Being back in Europe at all last year was a pleasant surprise at the time, and it meant a lot to fans. It matters to be in Europe, and being in the bigger competition now matters more.
But it’s not enough for everyone. Witness Emery, with his team leading 3-0 and obviously in total command, flapping and fussing over tiny details in the final minutes. Just being here will not do for him, and the demands he makes of his players and by extension his club remind everyone who deals with him of that, every day. Listening to the players speak, that feeling is clearly infectious.
Can They Go All The Way?
How far that energy can carry them in the Champions League is hard to gauge in Bern tonight, but after the next game, against Bayern Munich in two weeks’ time, we’ll know more.
