Aston Villa narrowly pipped Tottenham Hotspur to fourth spot last season and now they will compete against the elite teams in Europe.
Unai Emery has done a remarkable job to guide Aston Villa to the Champions League given that he walked into a mess.
Tottenham provided Villa with many frights last term, but you could argue that the team’s performances from the first half of the season got them over the line and was the difference.
Yes, Aston Villa beat Arsenal at the Emirates, which was huge, and Spurs fans surely loved that, but the performances during the second half of the season were very patchy.
Several years ago – and it will feel like a lifetime ago now for the London club – Tottenham reached the 2019 Champions League final, but they were beaten by Liverpool 2-0.
They finished fourth that season, pipping then-Emery’s Arsenal, but their form was patchy, especially during that calendar year, yet John McGinn thinks Villa can take inspiration from it.
Many are now going to doubt Emery’s side’s ability to compete in the Champions League and try to challenge at the top of the Premier League table, all at the same time.
But McGinn brilliantly used Tottenham as an example that it can be done, even though the team needs to remain ‘realistic’, as he told talkSPORT.
Tottenham 2019 Champions League
“Hopefully,” responded McGinn on challenging for the title and going deep into the Champions League.
“You see, even years ago when Tottenham’s domestic form wasn’t at its finest, they managed to get to the final. So, anything can happen in the Champions League.
“But I just think we have to try and build on what we achieved last season with so much success, it was a massive jump for us, but there are games we can certainly improve. We had a chance to go top of the league against Sheffield United around Christmas time. There were certain opportunities like that. Nottingham Forest away, we didn’t really build. There are moments like that where we can try to kick on. We have to be realistic and ambitious, at the same time, I would love to be challenging for those places.”
Aston Villa will be targeted in the Premier League
Now, more than ever before, Villa are going to have a massive target on their head and they will find life more difficult.
You wonder how Villa will line up for their Premier League opener against West Ham because it’s going to be a very tricky game.
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Roy Keane has predicted Villa’s clash at West Ham, with several new faces hoping to make their debut and feature for the first time.
Kosta Nedeljkovic has been Villa’s best player in pre-season and is expected to start at the London Stadium, with Matty Cash not featuring in the last pre-season game at Borussia Dortmund.
Then you have Villa signing Amadou Onana from Everton, with Boubacar Kamara injured and Douglas Luiz at Juventus, he becomes super important to this side.
