Life in the Premier League has been mixed for Aston Villa this season.
But the same can’t be said for Europe’s elite competition because Unai Emery’s side are going strong in the Champions League and life could get better.
As of this moment, the Midlands outfit are sitting just outside of the top-eight places, with three matches remaining and a chance of automatic qualification to the knockout rounds on the cards.
It’s an away trip to Germany to take on RB Leipzig next week, back on the road in January to face Monaco and then Villa’s all-British showdown against Celtic on January 29th – that will be the final game of this revamped Champions League group phase.
It wasn’t so long ago that Aston Villa were top of the table, but if they want automatic qualification, then winning their remaining matches will get them there.
RB Leipzig are supposed to be a Pot 1 team, but they are currently on the cusp of elimination because they have lost every match so far.
Villa are hoping they won’t be the first team to hand them points, but who will be in the dugout for the match on December 10?
Pressure on RB Leipzig boss Marco Rose ahead of Champions League clash v Aston Villa
Losing every game in the Champions League as a Pot 1 side comes with its problems and Marco Rose is facing that now.
As Leipzig were losing those matches, they were still, for large parts, sitting second in the Bundesliga because their European form wasn’t mirroring what they were doing on the domestic stage.
But that started to change, they have been slipping down the table in Germany, are currently in fourth place and were also beaten 5-1 at home by Wolfsburg over the weekend.
Three of those goals came after 16 minutes and it just sparked further noise that the man in the dugout was going to get the boot.
Erik ten Hag linked with replacing Rose as Leipzig’s boss
Erik ten Hag faced Emery’s Aston Villa in October when Manchester United recorded a goalless draw at Villa Park.
The ex-Ajax boss was then sacked by the Manchester club on October 28 and he is already being tipped for a return to management.
Sky Germany reporter Patrick Berger on social media that ten Hag is on Leipzig’s shortlist as Rose fights for his job.
Whilst Dutch expert Marcel van der Kraan has told talkSPORT that Leipzig are ‘looking’ at ten Hag and he was linked with the German club before getting the Manchester United job.
Leipzig beat Frankfurt in the German Cup on Wednesday to give Rose some breathing space, but they travel to relegation-threatened Holstein Kiel at the weekend.
You sense that if they lose, then Emery might be facing a new man by the time Villa come to town next week, and it could be ten Hag.
