Aston Villa defeated Lille on the way in which to the Convention League semi-finals in 2024 and reached the Champions League quarter-finals final time period.
And on the proof of this season, continental glory could be a practical prospect for the previous European champions.
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Not solely was this Villa’s first win in France on the seventh try, nevertheless it was additionally knowledgeable show from a workforce with out key personnel, just like the injured Matty Money and Youri Tielemans.
The return of captain John McGinn – match sufficient to make the bench after being sidelined with a knee downside since 18 January – was additionally a welcome sight with the enterprise finish of the season approaching.
In current weeks supervisor Unai Emery has outlined the necessity to restore construction to his workforce after home defeats by Newcastle, Wolves and Chelsea.
With Lamare Bogarde ably deputising for Money and with Pau Torres and Ezri Konsa giving little away defensively, that was evident as they restricted Lille to only a few promising positions.
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And as soon as Ollie Watkins scored to inject additional perception, the guests very a lot resembled the workforce that gained seven of their eight league-phase fixtures and climbed as excessive as third within the Premier League.