Aston Villa fans now know the exact dates of their Champions League fixtures after the draw was made on Thursday.
Unai Emery masterminded a historic season at Aston Villa in 2023/24, as the Villans finished in the top four and qualified for the Champions League.
On Thursday, it began to feel real for supporters as they discovered their eight opponents for the league phase, including eye-catching fixtures at Villa Park against Bayern Munich, Celtic and Juventus.
After discovering who they had drawn in the competition, Emery fired a clear warning to his Aston Villa players ahead of the challenge.
Exact dates of Aston Villa’s Champions League fixtures confirmed
The Villans will play Young Boys, Bayern, Bologna, Club Brugge, Juve, RB Leipzig, Monaco and Celtic, with the exact dates of those fixtures now confirmed.
Supporters will open up their campaign with a trip to Switzerland on Tuesday, September 17th to face Young Boys while the final game of the league phase is against Celtic on January 29th.
Here is the full fixture list and dates for Villa fans to take note of:
- Young Boys (A) September 17th
- Bayern Munich (H) October 2nd
- Bologna (H) October 22nd
- Club Brugge (A) November 6th
- Juventus (H) November 27th
- RB Leipzig (A) December 10th
- Monaco (A) January 21st
- Celtic (H) January 29th
How does the new Champions League format work?
Starting in the 2024/25 season, the Champions League has changed its format into a league phase instead of a group stage.
To qualify for the knockout stages, Villa will need to finish in the top 24 at a minimum. Those teams that finish in the top eight will automatically qualify for the round of 16 while sides that finish between ninth and 24th will have to compete in a play-off game, with the winner reaching the next round.
For the teams that win their play-off match, they will then face one of the sides that finished in the top eight while anyone below this position will be eliminated from all European competitions that season.
With 36 teams in this year’s Champions League, Emery’s troops have a realistic chance of at least qualifying for the play-off, if not making a push for the top eight.
Unai Emery’s record in Europe
Villa stand every chance of becoming a success in Europe’s elite competition, with Emery excelling in European competition as a manager.
The world-class Spanish boss has guided Sevilla to three consecutive Europa League titles from 2014-2016 before winning the same competition in 2021 with Villarreal after beating Arsenal in the semis and Manchester United in the final.
Emery then led Villarreal into the Champions League semi-finals in 2022 but were beaten 5-2 on aggregate by Liverpool, who advanced into the final.
Given his incredible track record, Villa arguably couldn’t pick a better manager in world football than the Spaniard to guide them into their first CL campaign for over 40 years.
