Villa secures a 2-1 victory!

12/04/2024

In the first leg of the Europa Conference League quarter-finals, Villa once again brought a surprise to the fans. They secured a 2-1 victory at home against Lille, taking the advantage in the two-legged tie.

Aston Villa 2-1 Lille

Despite the fierce competition for the top four in the Premier League, Emery did not adopt a conservative strategy. 

In this match, he still started core players like Watkins. In less than 60 minutes, goals from Watkins and McGinn gave Villa a 2-0 lead.

Watkins scored a head goal!1-0!

Unfortunately, before the end of the match, Villa conceded a goal from a corner kick by Diakhate. However, Villa managed to hold on and eventually secured a 2-1 victory.

McGinn long shoot led Villa to 2-0!

Next week, Villa will face Lille away. As long as they avoid defeat, Villa will advance to the Europa League semi-finals and have the opportunity to compete for their first ever Europa League title.

Emery once again became the focus, as Villa became the only Premier League team to win this week.

Diakité found back 1 to Lille!

In the Europa League, both Liverpool and West Ham suffered defeats. Liverpool suffered a humiliating 0-3 defeat at home to Atalanta. 

At Anfield, Klopp's team performed poorly, conceding several goals which was disappointing.

Liverpool lose to Atalanta

As for West Ham, they lost 0-2 away to Bayer Leverkusen. After the first leg matches, both Liverpool and West Ham are under pressure to advance to the Europa League semi-finals.

In the Champions League quarter-finals first leg, Manchester City and Arsenal also failed to win, drawing against Real Madrid and Bayern Munich respectively. 

City only managed to drew with Madrid

This means that out of the five Premier League teams participating in European competitions this week, only Villa managed to win.

Currently, Liverpool and West Ham are almost out of the competition, while Manchester City and Arsenal also face the risk of being eliminated.

Unai Emery

Although Villa won 2-1 at home against Lille, they cannot afford to be complacent. If they lose next week, Villa could also be knocked out.

This season, Manchester City is considered a favorite to win the Champions League, while Liverpool is also a top contender for the Europa League title. If these top teams are all eliminated, it will be a significant setback for the Premier League.

Can Aston Villa qualify to semi final?

Currently, none of the four Premier League teams participating in the Champions League and Europa League have a guaranteed spot in the semi-finals, and Villa also faces the risk of elimination. If all five teams are eliminated next week, the Premier League's hopes of securing European qualification spots will be dashed!