Unai Emery set for 'Remarkable' Champions League prospect at Aston Villa
Aston Villa have exceeded all expectations in the Champions League so far this season.
The Villans are in pole position to progress to the quarter-finals after a 3-1 victory over Club Brugge (4 March) in the first leg of the round-of-16 clash.
Unai Emery's side must ensure that they do their job at Villa Park in the return fixture but it would take an embarrassing collapse to stop them.
If they do qualify for the next round they will face the winner of the tie between Liverpool and Paris Saint-Germain, which is currently in the Reds' favour with the return leg at Anfield next week.
Unai Emery hailed after European exploits with Villa
Emery has been lauded as "remarkable" by former Villa ace Stan Collymore after the Midlands outfit's stunning campaign in Europe.
The former Liverpool star is excited by the mouthwatering prospect of a clash between Villa and another one of his old clubs.
In a column for Caught Offside (7 March), he said: "A Villa-Liverpool quarter-final would be quite remarkable.
"I think Villa can be competitive, they should have nothing to fear despite their poor historical record in the fixture. For Villa, it would be a remarkable ascent to be playing against a team that has won six Champions League in a Champions League quarter-final.
"I think Unai Emery would fancy it, as he would fancy any team over two legs, and for the club itself, it could whet the appetite to qualify for the Champions League many more times – although I don’t think it will happen this season."
Villa unlikely to qualify for Champions League again
Winning the Champions League may be Villa's only chance of qualifying for the competition again next season.
The B6 outfit have fallen off a cliff in the Premier League and find themselves in tenth place with 10 games left to play, needing the likes of Manchester City, Chelsea and Newcastle to collapse in the run-in to have any chance.
| Premier League | Played | GD | Points |
| 4. Man City | 27 | +16 | 47 |
| 5. Chelsea | 27 | +16 | 46 |
| 6. Newcastle | 27 | +8 | 44 |
| 7. Bournemouth | 27 | +13 | 43 |
| 8. Brighton | 27 | +5 | 43 |
| 9. Fulham | 27 | +4 | 42 |
| 10. Aston Villa | 28 | -5 | 42 |
If that happens, Emery's side would also need to overhaul Bournemouth, Brighton and Fulham to have any hope of securing another campaign in the competition.
The Spaniard probably needs his team to go on an unprecedented winning streak if they are to catch up with all of those teams but crazier things have happened in the top flight.
The idea of the Villans winning Europe's premier tournament might feel like an outside shot with the Reds, Real Madrid and Arsenal on their side of the draw, and all possessing strong teams.
Reaching the quarter-finals would be a fantastic achievement in itself for Villa given the fact that they were in the Championship just six seasons ago in the 2018-19 campaign. But stranger things have certainly happened, you've got to be in it to win it