It was a historic moment for many reasons on Tuesday night as Aston Villa secured victory in their first Champions League fixture.
Aston Villa’s 3-0 win over Young Boys saw Unai Emery become only the second manager in Champions League history to manage six or more teams.
Emery’s longevity at the top of European football is a testament to his astute tactics and unwavering appetite to win; two ingredients he’s instilled into his Villa players.
They impressed once more in Switzerland on Tuesday night, brushing aside their opponents at the Wankdorf Stadium thanks to goals from Youri Tielemans, Jacob Ramsey and Amadou Onana.
It was a very comfortable win for the Villans and it should have been more after Ollie Watkins goal was wrongly ruled out for a handball.
Nonetheless, it was a memorable night for the Aston Villa players, staff and fans but in particular, for John McGinn.
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John McGinn shares post after captaining Aston Villa in the Champions League
McGinn is inarguably one of Villa’s biggest value signings of all time.
Captured from Hibernian for £3 million in 2018, the 29-year-old is their current longest-serving player having amassed over 240 appearances for the club.
The Scottish machine has been through highs and lows over the years, including promotion to the Premier League in 2019, nearly being relegated in 2020 before reaching Europe in 2023 and the Champions League in 2024.
There was a time when it looked like McGinn could have left Aston Villa however, he’s now made a piece of history by captaining his side in Europe’s elite competition.
It’s a moment he had dreamed about his whole life as after the game, he posted three images on Instagram.
One was with him as a child standing with the Champions League ball at his feet while the other two pictures were of him in action against Young Boys, captioning the post: “For real this time”.
Morgan Rogers and Youri Tielemans respond to John McGinn’s Champions League debut
McGinn typically led by example as Villa cruised to a comfortable victory in Bern and the camaraderie from his teammates was there for all to see.
Many Villa players congratulated Ezri Konsa for making his debut in the Champions League and they also did similar with McGinn.
Former striker Gabby Agbonlahor and current teammate Lucas Digne posted love heart emojis while Morgan Rogers, who was unplayable against Young Boys, commented: “My skippp.”
Tielemans left Villa fans impressed with his performance and he also replied with heart eyes, fire and clapping emojis.
Villa’s fan favourite will certainly have tougher tests to come in this competition with Bayern Munich the visitors next week but it’s a challenge the skipper will relish.
