Aston Villa were handsome 3-0 winners on their return to the Champions League against Young Boys on Tuesday night as Unai Emery reached an impressive milestone.
Aston Villa made the perfect start to life in the Champions League after dispatching Swiss side Young Boys.
Youri Tielemans, Jacob Ramsey and Amadou Onana all scored on a memorable night for Unai Emery’s men while Morgan Rogers was dubbed ‘unplayable’.
The Villans were pretty comfortable throughout the game, in fact, their only real period of discomfort was watching Ollie Watkins sit up with ice on his ankle on the bench after being substituted.
Luckily, Emery cleared up any worries that Watkins was injured after the game, with the Spaniard also keeping elite company for one particular record.
- READ MORE: Aston Villa player ratings vs Young Boys, Morgan Rogers among three to excel but one ace gets 5/10
Unai Emery has now managed the second-most sides in Champions League history
Following Villa’s first match back in the Champions League, Villa became the sixth team Emery has managed in the competition.
The Spanish tactician has taken charge of five other clubs, including spells at Valencia, Spartak Moscow, Sevilla, PSG and Villarreal.
Remarkably, Emery has now managed the second most teams in Champions League history, sitting behind only the most successful coach in the history of the competition, Carlo Ancelotti.
Ancelotti sits alone at the top of the three in that regard, having managed eight different clubs in Europe’s elite competition.
For Emery, this is an incredible achievement as it not only displays his longevity at the top of European football but also the relentless consistency to stay there and continue being successful.
Unai Emery’s Champions League record
Emery’s bread and butter in terms of competitions is the Europa League having won it on four separate occasions, with three of those triumphs famously coming at Sevilla.
The Spaniard has been less than successful in the Champions League but considering some of the teams he’s managed, his record is respectable.
Including last night’s win over Young Boys, Emery has taken charge of 54 matches in the Champions League, winning 23, drawing 11 and losing 20.
The closest the Villa boss has come to lifting silverware in this competition was in 2021/22, as he led Villarreal to the semi-finals before they were beaten by Liverpool.
Aside from reaching the last four in that campaign, the best he’s achieved is a round-of-16 finish, doing so twice at PSG and once at Valencia.
Emery will hope to mastermind some miracles in this season’s edition of the Champions League, perhaps going deep into the competition.
