RichW

20 minutes ago, TRO said:

Are we ready for Champions league?.....missing out on the Europa, is a huge step up.

Don't get me wrong, I want to achieve it, but I wonder, if we are actually ready for it.

I think the new format helps us tbh. Going to get drawn with two teams from pot three and four so there is four games where we can pick up some points. Would like to think we could at least finish in the 9th - 24th bracket where we would make the play off round before the last 16. Not sure many of those teams would like to play Villa over two legs! 

1 hour ago, nick76 said:

I don’t agree re City…with nothing to play for City would be very dangerous because they will just play with their toy (Spurs).  City are deadly in two periods, firstly when chasing the last dozen of games or more of a season and secondly when they have nothing to play for because they are free and the quality shines.

Pretty sure Man City drew with Brighton and lost to Brentford last season when they had nothing to play for. 

1 minute ago, omariqy said:

Whether last night was a point gained or two lost will depend on Spurs result today. If they win then it’s likely City have nothing to play for against them in the penultimate game. That would mean Spurs would more than likely get at least another 12 points.

Think it’s ideal for us Arsenal play before Man City today. If it was the reverse order and Man City were to slip up then you’d sense Arsenal would all of a sudden get excited and maybe feel the pressure a bit. 

This is the game which everybody sees as the big test to their title credentials. If they win today you get the feeling they are running Man City to the last day.

Obviously I would love Villa to qualify for the Champions League but I’m kinda at the point where if Spurs do finish above us from here then you gotta hold your hands up and say fair play. 
 

Normally after throwing a 2-0 lead I’d be annoyed but Chelsea should have won last night and we were lucky to get a point. Squad have given us the best season in ages and we have lived up to the pre-season dark horses tag.

Before I had Brighton/Liverpool games as losses but I’m actually confident we can get 4 points at least from our last three games which should just about be enough as I see Spurs finishing on 70. 
 

I’m going to presume it’s a season ender unfortunately. Not long left now. 

12 minutes ago, RicRic said:

Does this mean its more likely we play more of some of the european giants such as Real and Bayern ?

Not 100% sure but I’d imagine you get drawn with 2 teams from each pot (one home and one away). So I bet there will be 2 games against one of the big boys at least and probably more as some tend to find themselves in pot 2. 

Hope Brighton play like this next week (they won’t). Some of the passing out from the back has been ridiculous!

1 hour ago, dappadan said:

Spurs lose the next 2 and we win the next 2 it will be job done. 

Easy

Bit like how it looked like the Premier League was going to have five champions league places all season and we could have been all but qualified for it right now but that would have been too easy.

It will go down to the last day. 

Chelsea were dreadful tonight but you just know they won’t be that bad Saturday night. They will get slaughtered tomorrow in the media no doubt and I bet Gusto and Palmer will be back for the game. 
 

If we can score early feel like Chelsea capable of collapsing quickly but we don’t seem to have fast starts at Villa Park these days. 

Express and Star confirming it was an extra year option triggered rather than a new contract. 

Quote

Aston Villa boosted by Unai Emery contract extension
Unai Emery has demonstrated his commitment to Villa by agreeing to extend his contract to 2027.

Guess none of us will know the finer details but the wording of The Athletic article about sitting down with the owners in the summer and prolonging his terms further would indicate to me at least both the club and Emery have agreed for the option of the extra year to be triggered and that in summer he will sign a new contract with higher pay, bigger release clause and maybe additional years? 

The fact its news that his extended to 2027 even though he was already tied to 2027  would tell me that the final year was definitely an option. I guess the club will wait till the summer when his signed his new contract before it's officially announced from the club as they've not mentioned anything (yet).  

4 minutes ago, Mantis said:

I presume he's gotten a big payrise - well deserved!

His original contract was already till 2027 I don't think his signed a new one, more the club and him have agreed to take up the option of the extra year he had to put a stop to the clickbait speculation that was starting to appear. 

The Athletic have reported he will sit down with the owners in the summer which I'd imagine is where he'd get a pay rise and maybe even sign for longer. Presume him and the club don't want any distractions whilst the season is ongoing. 

This would be a good appointment for West Ham. Lot of good managers in the Premier League nowadays. 

Would love to see both Ramsey/Rogers in the same line-up next season. I'd imagine Rogers would play as a 10 with Watkins like the Man City/Arsenal games if they were to play together. 

8 minutes ago, ender4 said:

Well we've only played 10 games in the proper Conference league, just that we had no European coefficient so we had to play 2 qualifying games as well. 

That's incorrect. Every team entered the play-off round.

2 hours ago, Delphinho123 said:

Beat Chelsea and surely, surely 4th is all but sewn up?

If we beat Chelsea I think that put's a lot of pressure on Spurs but I wouldn't say its all but sewn up. If Villa can beat Man City and Arsenal at home then I'd argue Spurs can do the same. 

Not many saw Villa winning away at Arsenal and I think Spurs will get a surprise result somewhere. Villa and Spurs are both equally good sides which is why it's been pretty much neck and neck for months now. 72 points will do the job for either side (I think). 

I think 72 points will be enough for Champions League so 2 more wins. 70 points I think we would be relying on goal difference as I can see Spurs getting to 70. 

Intrigued to see if he starts this weekend especially with Luiz out and Emery might feel the need to rotate after last night  

If he doesn’t start this weekend then I’m not sure when his next start is going to be. Won’t be surprised if his sold in the summer. 

Likely going to have to absorb pressure like the Arsenal game for the first 20-30 mins. If Lille score early then I can see them doing what Dortmund did and scoring a second fairly quickly and being an uncomfortable night. If we can get to HT at least level then I think we will be fine. I am bracing myself for a penalty shoot-out tonight though. 

The performance at Arsenal has given me a bit more confidence but AZ Alkmaar aside, I don't think we have played that well in any of our European away games and Lille are more experienced with this occasion then us. Not confident! 

I do think the winner of this tie goes onto win the tournament. 

Top 5 being enough for Villa to be in the Champions League ahead of two winnable home games to pretty much seal top 5 would have been too easy. Villa never do it the easy way. Promotion, staying up on the last day when we looked dead and buried, Europe last season. 

This will go down to the last day where a win against Palace will mean we finish top four. Spurs will be 3-0 up after 30 minutes against Sheff Utd and we will anxiously be waiting for Villa to take the lead. 

Already mentally preparing myself for a penalty shoot out tonight!

43 minutes ago, CVByrne said:

Well the difference about getting it this season is the financial aspect given our finances right now. The new format and the prestige it can give us. Plus looking at what Emery has done with Villareal going to semi final. It's more important right now as it's a kind of sliding doors moment for the club. If we don't get CL we need to sell a player like Luiz this summer so it's more the combination of losing it so late in season and the consequences of that which is why this whole run in has been so monumentally stressful unlike any other season as can see the two paths. Like our playoff final against Fulham there's a sporting prize and a financial consequence all on one thing

Even if we make Champions League it could turn out we need to sell Douglas Luiz anyway if the club want to spend money in the summer. Was gutted when we sold Grealish but looking at the bigger picture that fee has played a part in bringing some of the players that we love watching right now. 

If we do have to sell - Villa won't be doing it cheap so I'm not really worried about that. 

How many one on ones do Atletico want to miss! Much better second half from them. 

This game just shows how frustrating that late Lille goal was. Dortmund scored late in the first leg and they’ve managed to turn this around quite quickly. 
 

4 minutes ago, duke313 said:

Last 4 league games:

Everton - Win
Sheff Utd - Draw
Man Utd - Win
Burnley - Draw

If we play like we did at Arsenal, we'll blow them away.

3 of those sides are in the bottom three so that unbeaten run doesn't really impress me that much. Could have easily lost to Burnley aswell. 

Emery will have learnt from the FA Cup game. He won't make the same mistake twice.

32 minutes ago, VillaBrum said:

Chelsea seem to be turning themselves around - that will be a tough match, I think

Both Bournemouth and Chelsea are tough games. We have a good chance to win but there's also a good chance we don't win either. 

Chelsea beat a poor Everton last night, have to remember they are 9th for a reason - they lack consistency. 

Hopefully we can back up the Arsenal result with a win against Bournemouth. When we beat Arsenal and Man City we backed it up beating Brentford. Sometimes teams get a big result and then lose the weekend after. Fingers crossed we can get through against Lille, English teams have a good week in Europe and we can have a comfortable home game this weekend!