Surpassing even the most optimistic fan’s expectations, Aston Villa started their first Champions League campaign with three straight wins, seeing off Young Boys in Switzerland, before memorably beating Bayern Munich in Birmingham, where Bologna were also dispatched three weeks later.
Earlier this month, though, the Premier League side suffered a 1-0 loss away to Club Brugge, amid a significant downturn in fortunes both in Europe and on the domestic scene.
Villa have won only five of their first 12 league matches following a 2-2 home draw with struggling Crystal Palace last weekend, when they twice had to come from behind to snatch a point, with Ross Barkley scoring a late leveller at Villa Park.
Just before the international break, a 2-0 loss at Liverpool was the Villans’ fourth in a row across all competitions, and they have recently slipped down to eighth place in the English top flight.
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Nonetheless, they have won eight of their last nine European games on home turf, with the exception being a first-leg defeat by Olympiacos in last term’s Conference League semi-finals.
Such is his vast experience in Europe, Unai Emery has already beaten Juventus twice before in the Champions League – with Sevilla in 2015 and Villarreal seven years later – and Villa’s Basque boss actually coached Juve manager Thiago Motta at Paris Saint-Germain.
He now leads the Lions into their first meeting with the Bianconeri since a European Cup clash in 1983, when Aston Villa lost 5-2 on aggregate to end their defence of the trophy.
