Aston Villa are vying for their first title since lifting the League Cup in 1996 at Wembley Stadium.
Ideally, this tournament would not have been on their radar. With **Newcastle United**1-0 down against Everton, all they needed was a victory to snatch the fifth and final spot for the Champions League.
But the officials ruled out a goal from Morgan Rogers at Old Trafford, and **Man United**defeated their guests 2-0. Villa and Newcastle had 66 points, but goal difference went against Emery's men.
Now, they must be content with a place in the Europa League after tasting European experience at the top table. But in Unai Emery, the club have an astute man who won this competition three years in a row with **Sevilla**between 2014 and 2016 and earned a fourth crown with **Villarreal**in 2021.
To triumph for a fifth time, the journey to glory on the continent will begin with the league phase.
For the second year in a row, the **Europa League**will follow a new format. Each team will compete in a league with all 36 clubs and have been drawn to face four sides home and away apiece.
The top eight will then qualify automatically for a place in the Round of 16 of the knockout stages, while those from 9th until 24th will have to reach this stage through a playoff in the new year.
Red Bull Salzburg (H)
Feyenoord (A)
Maccabi Tel-Aviv (H)
Fenerbahce (A)
Young Boys (H)
Basel (A)
Bologna (H)
Go Ahead Eagles (A)
UEFA will confirm the timings and dates for all of the league phase fixtures no later than Sunday.
The headline fixtures
From Pot 1, Villa will face Austrian outfit RedBull Salzburg****. Die Roten Bullen have twice dropped into the **Europa League**from the Champions League in the last five years, but this is the first time they have failed to qualify for the top tier continental competition since the 2018/19 season.
Also in Pot 1, **Feyenoord**have been present in two of the last three editions of the Champions League. The Dutch side went all the way to the **Europa League**quarter-final in 2023 and the first Conference League final in 2022, losing to **Jose Mourinho**and **AS Roma**on both occasions.
Above all, a trip to **De Kuip**will mean a lot to Villa because of its place in club folklore. The site of a 1-0 win over Bayern Munich in the 1982 European Cup final, it could mark the start of a special run.
There are reunions with two opponents from the league phase of the Champions League. The Villans beat **Bologna**2-0 at home and Young Boys 3-0 away in their first fixture as a team in the competition. They will host the new Coppa Italia champions, but this time, the Swiss side shall trek to Villa Park.
The rest of the schedule
Villa make one trip to Switzerland to battle Basel, who have not reached this competition since 2020.
From Pot 2, the Villans will challenge **Fenerbahce**and Maccabi Tel Aviv. Frequent participation has not produced success. In the last decade, the Turkish team have not gone beyond the Round of 16 in this competition from six attempts, while the Israeli outfit have never advanced past the Round of 32.
The final fixture on the list is a second trip to the Netherlands. Go Ahead Eagles won their maiden **KNVB Cup**and earned qualification for a continental competition for the first time since 1984.
Aston Villa have stood up to the task in Europe. They advanced into the final four of the Conference League and narrowly exited the **Champions League**quarter-finals to winners Paris Saint-Germain.
The experience of Emery stands them in good stead to go all the way, and that should be the target.