Aston Villa got their Europa Conference League campaign off to a great start with a 5-0 win over Hibernian last night.
Ollie Watkins bagged a hat-trick, whilst Leon Bailey and Douglas Luiz also got on the scoresheet to ensure that Aston Villa cruised past their Scottish opponents in the first leg of this Europa Conference League qualifying play-off clash.
Unai Emery has a fantastic record in continental competition, having won the Europa League on four previous occasions, across his spells in charge of Sevilla and Valencia. The Spanish coach will be taking this tournament very seriously and will be targeting yet more European silverware with Villa this time around.
The Villans made a great start at Easter Road on Wednesday night. Watkins was in inspired form, and he will be central to the Midlands club’s aspirations for this season. Lucas Digne also impressed, racking up a hat-trick of his own, as he assisted two of Watkins’ goals and also set up Bailey.
Aston Villa eyeing up glory
Emery named a strong starting XI, with summer signings Moussa Diaby and Pau Torres both starting, whilst Youri Tielemans was introduced from the bench. As the season goes on, though, Emery will have to strike the right balance of squad rotation between Premier League and Europa Conference League fixtures. Their ability to remain competitive in both competitions will define the success or failure of Aston Villa’s season.
Ex-Aston Villa attacker and pundit Gabby Agbonlahor was delighted with what he saw from his former club against Hibernian. Speaking on TalkSport, Agbonlahor said, “they worked their socks off to get into the Europa League conference…Unai Emery was always going to play his strongest side…not going to mess about.”
Agbonlahor, like other Aston Villa fans, will be delighted to see the club taking this competition seriously. Given West Ham United won the tournament last season, Aston Villa will fancy their chances of being able to follow suit. Winning the Europa Conference League would be a huge achievement for the club.
