Aston Villa need to be targeting a top-two finish in the Europa League - but their chances of achieving this took a blow against Go Ahead Eagles
Our dedicated Aston Villa reporter is always on the pulse of all things claret and blue, from major talking points to transfer news to match action, John Townley will bring you the very latest from Bodymoor Heath and Villa Park.
Aston Villa manager Unai Emery
Aston Villa manager Unai Emery
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Aston Villa’s perfect record in the Europa League looked set to continue after they took the lead against Go Ahead Eagles, but the Dutch side battled back to claim a shock victory.
Evann Guessand scored his first goal for the club, and Ollie Watkins should have doubled the lead, while Emi Buendia also missed his first opportunity of the night. Guessand really should have extended both his tally and Villa’s before half-time, and the hosts made them pay for missing chance after chance.
Mathis Suray beat Villa’s offside line to score the equaliser, before Mats Deijl completed the comeback, running off Ian Maatsen and behind Pau Torres to finish beyond Emi Martinez.
This defeat, as disappointing as it was, won’t define how far Villa will go in this competition, or whether they ultimately win it. With arguably the best squad, depth, and manager, that has to be the aim.
As we saw tonight, it’s not as simple as turning up and taking three points just because Villa are favourites. If Villa had played to their level, they likely would have won — which makes it concerning that complacency appeared to creep in.
Even if Villa had won tonight and taken a step closer to qualifying for the top eight, there would still have been an important job to do. UEFA has introduced a key change for the knockout rounds of the Europa League, rewarding teams who perform best in the league phase.
Teams finishing in positions one to eight automatically qualify for the round of 16, but finishing in the top two comes with a significant advantage. These teams are guaranteed to play the second legs of their round of 16 tie at home, as well as the quarter-finals and semi-finals if they progress that far.
Teams finishing third and fourth will play the second legs at home in the round of 16 and quarter-finals, but the second leg of the semi-final will be away. For a team like Villa, having the chance to play all three second legs — round of 16, quarter-finals, and semi-finals — at Villa Park would be a huge boost.
Since losing to Arsenal 14 months ago, Crystal Palace are the only team to beat Villa at B6.
So, how many points do Villa need from their remaining five league-phase matches to finish in the top two? Considering that this league-phase format only started last season, we can refer to the 2024/25 table, where Lazio and Athletic Bilbao topped the standings with 19 points each. Both sides posted identical records: six wins, one draw, and one loss, while Manchester United finished third with 18 points, winning five matches and drawing three.
Winning tonight would have obviously boosted Villa’s chances, but after this loss, they now appear to need four wins from their last five matches.
Their remaining home matches are against Maccabi Tel Aviv, BSC Young Boys, and RB Salzburg, and wins in each should be the aim. A trip to FC Basel seems winnable, while the other away game is at Fenerbahce.
From this position, having taken six points from the nine up for grabs so far, another four wins and a draw would take Villa to 19 points — the same tally last season’s top two teams managed.
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