Unai Emery’s team are hunting glory in both the Premier League and Europe.
Thursday begins 45 days which will define Villa’s season and just possibly an era.
The first leg of a Europa League quarter-final tie in Bologna is the first of a potential 12 matches between now and May 24 for Unai Emery’s team.
When the final whistle goes at Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium to signal the end of their campaign, Villa will hope to have secured both a return to the Champions League and ended the club’s 30-year wait for a major trophy.
There has never been any doubt Emery prioritises the respective goals in precisely that order.
The manager has always been clear success in the Premier League, the primary route to qualifying for the Champions League, comes before everything else.
Internally, it continues to be the message drilled into players and staff. Confirmation the Premier League will have five places in next year’s competition, therefore, is a significant boost with fourth-placed Villa possessing a six-point cushion over sixth-placed Chelsea with just seven matches remaining.
Yet in a campaign where his team’s form has fluctuated, sometimes wildly, the Europa League has always provided a viable, alternative route back into Europe’s top club competition.
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