Pundits Gary Lineker and Micah Richards have been left in total agreement over Aston Villa’s start to their Champions League campaign.
It’s three wins from three for Aston Villa in Europe’s elite competition without conceding a goal, securing victories over Young Boys, Bayern Munich and Bologna.
Villa are currently sitting top of the Champions League table with Liverpool the only other team to boast a 100% record.
Few could have predicted that Unai Emery’s men would have taken maximum points from those matches, particularly at home to Bayern Munich, but it’s seen them become a surprise package.
Gary Lineker and Micah Richards share Aston Villa Champions League verdict
Villa are on course to automatically qualify for the last 16 and at the very least, finish between 9th and 24th which would mean a play-off round.
Considering they were last competing at Europe’s top table just over 40 years ago, to make this incredible start has been tremendous.
Speaking on the Rest Is Football podcast, pundits Gary Lineker, Micah Richards and Alan Shearer all discussed Villa’s start in the Champions League.
And when asked who they felt was the competition’s biggest surprise, the trio agreed that the accolade belonged to Aston Villa.
“Well, Villa have been amazing, haven’t they,” Shearer said.
“Yes, good shout, Alan,” Richards replied.
“I was going to say Villa. Three wins from three, you’d have to say them. Well, the three English teams are top, aren’t they, with Manchester City and Liverpool as well,” Lineker added.
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Ian Wright thinks Aston Villa can win the Champions League
Villa have five more matches to play in the league phase, including ties against Club Brugge, Juventus, RB Leipzig, Monaco and Celtic.
Given how convincing they’ve been so far, Emery will be targeting wins from each of those fixtures to cement their place at the top.
And whilst it’s only early days in the competition and they will have far bigger tests to come, Ian Wright isn’t disregarding Aston Villa’s chances of winning the Champions League.
Speaking after their latest win over Bologna, the former Arsenal striker said: “They are in it and they have got a chance. I can’t say they can definitely win it, but I think they have got a good chance of winning it. They are like anyone else. You say ‘I don’t think they will win it’. I will say Villa can win it.”
To even reach the last 16 on their first season back would be a tremendous achievement, and from there, Emery has proven that he’s capable of achieving anything.
