Unai Emery will lead Aston Villa into the Champions League for the second time in the 2026/27 season.
Aston Villa secured a fourth-place finish in the 2025/26 Premier League table and Unai Emery also led the club to lift the Europa League trophy.
It was Villa’s first European trophy since 1982, but Emery’s fifth time lifting the trophy. As a result, Villa will return to the Champions League next season with a point to prove.
Emery led Villa to the Champions League in 2024/25, the first time the club had competed in the tournament in 42 years. He defied expectations with a run to the quarter-finals, but Emery’s relationship with the Champions League has been mixed.
Unai Emery’s record in the Champions League
Before Emery was appointed at Villa, he had already built experience in the Champions League while in charge of Villarreal, PSG, and Valencia.
While Emery has brilliant memories in the competition in charge of Villa and Villarreal, his record at Valencia and PSG is poor.
Emery’s best run in the Champions League came in the 2021/22 season when he led Villarreal, on a modest budget, to the semi-finals of the competition.
Villarreal beat Bayern Munich and Juventus en route to the final four. In Villa’s run to the quarter-final, Emery also masterminded victories over Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig, and took a point from a draw against Juventus.
Villa eventually bowed out to PSG 5-4 on aggregate – the French giants went on to win the competition.
In contrast, Emery’s Champions League record at PSG and Valencia is remembered as a failure.
Emery’s star-studded PSG side failed to reach the quarter-finals in successive seasons. PSG famously lost 6-1 to Barcelona after winning 4-0 in the first leg; symbolic of Emery’s shortcomings in France.
His Valencia side between the years of 2010 and 2012 also failed to get past the round of 16.
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What Aston Villa can expect in the 2026/27 Champions League
The theme in Emery’s Champions League record is that he thrives as an underdog, and this won’t be news to Villa fans.
Emery has made Villa the strongest competitor to the established ‘Big Six’ in the Premier League, balancing ridiculous financial constraints and still qualifying for the Champions League twice.
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The Spaniard is at his best when his teams can spring a surprise, and that will be music to the ears of Villa supporters in 2026/27.
Villa will enter the Champions League as dark horses, expected to bow out to one of Europe’s powerhouses. But Emery has built a squad capable of killing giants, and that will be Villa’s aim next season.
