Aston Villa aren’t just sitting at the top table when it comes to the Champions League next season but with Unai Emery at the helm, anything is possible.
During 2025/26, Emery did what he does best and won the Europa League, with Villa also finishing in the top five of the Premier League – just to make completely sure of Champions League football.
Villa have a rich history in the Champions League, having lifted the trophy in 1982, and now, the talk will begin over how far the club can go when they return to the competition in 2026/27.
Villa won’t be fancied to win 2026/27 Champions League
It’s fair to say that the bookmakers won’t give Villa much chance of lifting the trophy for the second time next season.
Right now, with the dust settling on 2025/26, Villa are 33/1 to win the tournament, which, for context, is the same price as Diego Simeone is to end his long wait for the title with Atletico Madrid.
Intriguingly, Villa are fancied as better prospects than Dortmund, Leipzig and Napoli, who have all been regulars in the tournament in recent years.
One thing this does prove is that Villa are more than fancied as complete underdogs, and the reason for that does feel crystal clear right now.
Villa have secret weapon when it comes to knockout football
Villa’s secret weapon, should they make it through the group stage, comes in the form of Unai Emery.
The Villa head coach would have been a superb bet for Manager of the Year in the Premier League, given that he dealt with a dreadful start to come back and give Villa fans a season to remember.
Villa will fancy a top-eight finish given the teams that progressed last season, but a worst-case scenario of playing a last-32 match could also make Emery an ideal head coach.
Emery’s record in two-legged knockout matches in Europe is pretty formidable and nobody will fancy drawing Villa over that format.
Nottingham Forest found out the hard way in the Europa League that Villa are superb on home soil in Europe and that level of performance must be carried with them into next season’s Champions League.
Emery has a wonderful history of big European nights and after winning five Europa League titles he will be more desperate than anyone to get his hands on the Champions League trophy too.
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Villa will have no issues with new format
The fact that Tottenham – the team that finished 17th in the Premier League – finished third in the Champions League group stage suggests that Villa should negotiate that with no problems at all.
It’s easy to see why UEFA opted for a shake-up when it comes to the format, with each team now playing eight different teams in a bid to reach the knockout rounds.
Villa will get at least four winnable fixtures from their eight and after beating PSG and Bayern Munich the last time they were in the competition, they will feel they are among the favourites to progress.
Furthermore, after regular years of European action, Villa now have a squad that suggests they can compete in Europe whilst balancing a 38-game Premier League campaign with relative ease.
Should Morgan Rogers leave this summer, Villa will have ample funds to ensure that level of squad depth and keep competing in more than one competition.
Villa’s depth, even before a foray into the transfer market, is quite superb.
Regulars on the bench towards the end of the campaign were Ross Barkley, Ian Maatsen, Tyrone Mings and Victor Lindelof – all of whom have ample top-flight expertise.
Villa will, of course, want to go again in the market, but this time around, predictions from the data, the experts and the fans that a solid Champions League campaign can be on the horizon, feel pretty realistic.
