Aston Villa to appear in UEFA Champions League for the first time in 42 years

Aston Villa will return to the UEFA Champions League in the 2024-25 season after Tottenham Hotspur's 2-0 loss to Manchester City on Tuesday assured them a spot in the Premier League's top four this season.

Villa held Liverpool at 3-3 at Villa Park on Monday to reach 68 points as No. 4 on the table, five points above Hotspur in the fifth place. Then Hotspur lost to City 2-0 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Tuesday, failing to shrink their deficit behind Villa. With only one more game to go for both clubs, there is no way Hotspur can surpass Villa to make it into the top four this season.

The last time Villa appeared in the Champions League was during the 1982-83 campaign when the tournament was still known as the European Cup. They won the title in the previous 1981-82 season but lost to Bayern Munich in the quarterfinals in the following campaign.

Villa participated in the Europa Conference League and advanced to the semifinals but lost to Olympiacos. They are about to finish their second season under manager Unai Emery, who lifted them from No. 7 in the 2022-23 season to No. 4 this season. The club have finished their 37 games in the league with 20 wins, eight draws and nine losses. They scored 76 goals, the fifth-most in the Premier League and allowed 56 goals, matching Manchester United for the fourth-fewest.

Villa's scoring ace Ollie Watkins led the team in goals (19) and assists (13), followed by Leon Bailey who got 10 goals and nine assists. Transfermarkt.com valued Watkins at 65 million euros (about $70.4 million) and Balley at 35 million euros (about $37.9 million), respectively.

"When you are playing in the Champions League, you are playing against the best teams, at the same time, from other countries. And it's amazing," Emery said. "And we are always responsible about the history here; we know the history of Aston Villa is so long and so successful."