Aston Villa’s Europa League Draw Highlights and Appraisal
Aston Villa’s 2025/26 Europa League group has been confirmed, handing Unai Emery’s men trips to Fenerbahçe, Feyenoord, Basel and Go Ahead Eagles, alongside home clashes with Red Bull Salzburg, Young Boys, Maccabi Tel Aviv and Bologna. It’s an intriguing and competitive mix — but when set against the glamour of last season’s Champions League fixtures, the step down is impossible to ignore.
Champions League Glory Nights: 2024/25
Last season, Villa dined at Europe’s top table for the first time in over four decades. The league phase threw up nights that will live long in supporters’ memories: Bayern Munich and Juventus visited Villa Park, bringing with them memories from Villa’s previous endeavours in the tournament, while the Celtic tie provided a fixture that brought head-to-head two old school British winners of the European Cup, in a fixture that had never been competitively played before. It was heavyweight, prestige football. Bayern under the lights was the kind of occasion Villa Park was made for, and Juventus brought continental pedigree that reminded everyone Villa truly belonged back on the European stage.
Europa League Reality: 2025/26
Fast forward to this season, and Villa’s name is now in the Europa League draw. The drop-off is stark. Bologna return, but while they were the least attractive home tie of the Champions League phase last year, they now represent the most high profile of the games at Villa Park. The rest of the group, though tricky, doesn’t come close to the prestige of Bayern or Juventus. Salzburg, Basel, and Young Boys are familiar names to Europa watchers but won’t quicken the pulse in quite the same way.
Historic and Spicy Away Days
There is still romance in the draw. Away to Feyenoord gives Villans the chance to return to the very stadium where the club lifted the European Cup in 1982 — a pilgrimage in itself for many. Meanwhile, the trip to Istanbul brings extra intrigue. Fenerbahçe could pit Villa against their former striker Jhon Durán, whose chaotic brilliance was so crucial in recent European runs.
Back in 2024, a potential Conference League semi-final with Fenerbahçe was on the cards, until the Turks suffered a 3-2 penalty loss to Olympiacos, after it being 3-3 on aggregate. At the time, Villa’s Fan Advisory Group were told the club would probably not have taken an away allocation due to safety concerns, with the Home Office raising a warning for visitors of the region. That situation though seems to have passed with away fans regularly attending the Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium since.
Emery’s Competition
If there’s a positive, it’s that the Europa League is Unai Emery’s old stomping ground. A four-time winner of the competition, no coach in the modern game knows how to navigate it better. With Villa now experienced in European football from back-to-back campaigns, they should be equipped to go deep and be value for their bookies favourites tag.
Perspective
In just three seasons, Aston Villa have now competed in UEFA’s full set of competitions – the Conference League in 2023/24, the Champions League in 2024/25, and the Europa League this year. It’s a reminder of both how far the club has come.
Still, the challenge is clear: if Villa want nights like Bayern and Juventus back, they’ll need to use this Europa League campaign as a launchpad – and perhaps, finally, put their name on a European trophy again.
Come on, if Spurs can do it, then there’s no reason why Villa can’t too.
UTV
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