Aston Villa are sitting top of the Champions League tree.
It has been an incredible week for the club and things will hopefully only get better for Unai Emery as the gruelling winter months arrive.
On Wednesday night, Aston Villa beat Bologna 2-0 to move to the top of the Champions League table, and now, with every game from match week three played, only the Midlands side and Arne Slot’s Liverpool have made a 100% start.
There are so many things that are delighting the fans from Emery’s tactical genius, not conceding in Europe, the performance of individual players, the squad depth and the return of injured stars.
Tyrone Mings was given a warm welcome back by the Villa fans as he was named in the matchday squad for the win over Bologna after 14 months out.
Whilst the ex-captain didn’t take to the field, you assume it might come at home to Crystal Palace in the EFL Cup next week, another long-term absentee was also seen for the first time since February.
William Saliba and Ibrahima Konate delighted with Boubacar Kamara’s return from injury
Boubacar Kamara was one of Aston Villa’s most important players before his knee injury last season and now that he is back, it’s a huge boost for everyone involved.
The France international came on with around ten minutes left on the clock, with Youri Tielemans making way, and the home fans roaring with delight at his return.
But the Villa faithful weren’t the only ones cheering because his fellow countrymen, William Saliba and Ibrahima Konate reacted on Instagram to Kamara taking to the field again.
The defensive-midfielder wrote ‘Feels good to be back’, with Konate posting in cap locks ‘HE IS BACK’, added with a heart-faced emoji and Saliba doing the same.
Morgan Rogers wrote ‘My sonnnnnn’, including a heart-faced emoji and Tielemans added ‘welcome back’.
Aaron Ramsey, who left Villa for Burnley last summer, added ‘Good to see you back, bro’.
Kamara’s stats against Bologna upon his return for Villa
It’s just a small glimpse, but Kamara is going to add even more defensive bite to Villa’s midfield when he really gets his engine going again.
Amadou Onana was subbed by Emery at half-time against Bologna and if you asked Villa fans to pick between the two to start as that number six, then the majority would pick Kamara.
WhoScored rated Kamara as 6.22 during his brief time on the pitch, but everyone knows that he will be hitting the seven and eights when he starts matches and finds that rhythm again.
| Passing accuracy | Aerials won | Interceptions | Touches | Rating |
| 91.7 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 6.22 |
