What a night. Let’s start at the end: loud ovations at Villa Park, Emiliano Martinez pounding the ground in celebration, Jhon Duran fist-pumping at the Holte End and tens of thousands of Aston Villa fans, young and old, letting out tears of joy while others rubbed their eyes in disbelief.
It was immediately apparent in the score: Villa 1-0 Bayern Munich, just like the 1982 European Cup final.
This, as Jose Mourinho might say, was a football legacy.
Echoes of Villa’s illustrious past were inevitable. In one of England’s most historic and atmospheric games, two of the heroes of 1982, Dennis Mortimer and Peter Withe, seemed overwhelmed by the celebrations at the final whistle, no doubt remembering their team-mate Gary Shaw, who died last month.
But as well as honoring the past, it was a night that felt important to the future of European football.
There was so much excitement at UEFA when it launched the new Champions League format, promising more “intensity and emotion” as well as, of course, more matches between the biggest clubs. The first few nights of the new format had raised more concerns than ever about the balance of competition in European football, with an alarming number of one-sided results, but Wednesday brought a landmark victory for Villa – in their first European Cup home game since. 1983 — and famous victories for Lille (1-0 at Real Madrid) and Benfica (4-0 at Atletico Madrid).
Villa’s victory owed nothing to the rejected format. It’s all about their growth as a club, revived to a remarkable degree since Unai Emery took over almost two years ago.
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There have been so many goal-scoring victories along the way, but this one — made possible by outstanding defending and Duran’s enduring 79th-minute brace — had a wider context, underscoring why talent in European competition must always be more about athleticism. but business appeal.
WHAT DO WE JUST HAVE A WITNESS 🔥
Has Jhon Durán just delivered the moment of the night?! 😮💨
📺 Stay tuned @tntsports and @discoveryplusUK image.twitter.com/laAj5FwErX
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) October 2, 2024
Villa were nowhere near the talk held in 2021 of a European ‘Super League’ which would have effectively eclipsed them, Lille, Benfica and so many others while guaranteeing qualification every year for the self-proclaimed 12-club Premier League. Villa answered with a statement condemned the plans, saying they were “not idle by allowing the dreams of Aston Villa fans to be taken away by this sinister scheme”.
But were Villa supporters even dreaming of Champions League football in 2021? They had not long returned to the Premier League after a three-year absence where they had briefly threatened to sink further under the disastrous ownership of Chinese businessman Tony Xia.
What did Champions League nights look like at Villa Park six years ago? Europe wasn’t even on their radar. They were playing in the second-placed English Premier League and drew 3-3 at home to Preston North End, with Glenn Whelan missing a stoppage-time penalty. Oh, and a fan ran to the touchline and threw a cabbage at his manager, a relegated Steve Bruce, who was sacked the next day. They were not salad days.
It has become difficult for even a club of Villa’s size and heritage to compete with the elite that has taken shape over the past two decades, buoyed year after year by Champions League revenue and the huge commercial deals that have come with it. For Villa to break the glass ceiling by finishing fourth in the Premier League last season, securing a place in Europe’s top competition for the first time since 1982-83, was an incredible achievement for Emery and his players.
All sub-languages require certain caveats; Even without Champions League money in 2022-23, Villa’s revenue was the 21st highest in Europe, ahead of Benfica, Roma and Sevilla, just behind Napoli and Marseille.
But compared to Bayern – and Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain and of course Manchester City, Liverpool and a handful of others – Villa are paupers, so stratified is the European football landscape.
They were certainly poor on Wednesday. Bayern’s complexion may have faded slightly, having surrendered the German title to Bayer Leverkusen last season and now in the early stages of a rebuild under Vincent Kompany, but it still took a magnificent effort from Villa to inflict their first defeat in European competition. competition since 2017.
Villa secure famous win over Bayern (David Davies/PA Images via Getty Images)
It remains to be seen how significant Wednesday’s results will be with the new format. Logically, a defeat should carry less weight when it is one of eight games rather than six. But Bayern’s next three games in the Champions League are against Barcelona, Benfica and PSG. The set-up offers considerable room for error – which is the idea, more high-profile games with less danger for the biggest clubs – but Bayern’s task has certainly been more difficult.
As an occasion, Villa’s triumphant return to Europe has had certain parallels with Newcastle United’s emphatic victory over PSG at the same stage in the Champions League last season. In both cases, it reinforced the sense that these are clubs – and cities – that delight and enhance this type of occasion.
Trouble is, Newcastle’s adventure was short-lived, with Eddie Howe’s side ravaged by injuries as the group stage progressed and ended up missing out on European competition for the season. The challenge for Villa is not just to go deeper into the Champions League this year, but to make it again and again; Even for a club that has had so much right over the past two years, it’s so difficult when it means consistently outperforming rivals that aren’t so constrained by financial regulations.
You can be sure that among some elite clubs there will be regret that there is no Manchester United and no Chelsea in this Champions League, no Sevilla or Valencia, no Napoli or Roma. Among those who are only concerned with broadcasting and business figures, there will be limited interest for the participation of Girona, Brest, Bologna, Atalanta and others. Don’t forget how former Juventus chairman Andrea Agnelli asked in 2021 whether it was “right” that Atalanta, a club “with no international history”, should be allowed to qualify for the Champions League by virtue of their league position while Roma and others missed out. .
The answer is that eligibility should always be based on on-field performance rather than business ability. So much of the appeal of this competition comes down to the atmosphere on matchday and whether the underdogs are ready and able to step up and increase the drama by going toe-to-toe with European football’s powerhouses.
In that regard, what happened in Birmingham and Lille on Wednesday night was exactly what European football needs: the sense that for those outside this super club elite there is still something worth fighting for. As Villa Park supporters know all too well, the European Cup should be a chance to create legends rather than make money.
(Top photo: Neal Simpson/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images)
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