Aston Villa’s fixtures for the group stage of the 2025-26 Europa League have been drawn.
They will again be led by the most eminent coach in the competition’s history in Unai Emery, a four-time winner. Emery won three titles at Sevilla in as many years between 2014-2016, before clinching a fourth with Villarreal in 2021.
This will be Villa’s first entrance in the competition in 14 years, having played in the Conference League and Champions League in Emery’s only two full seasons in charge.
Highlights include returning to Rotterdam — the scene of the club’s greatest night — and a reunion with Jhon Duran at Fenerbahce, a tie indicative of the several subplots involved in Villa’s fixtures…
Dates and times
(All times UK)
September 25: Bologna (H), 8pm
October 2: Feyenoord (A), 8pm
October 23: Go Ahead Eagles (A), 5.45pm
November 6: Maccabi Tel-Aviv (H), 8pm
November 27: Young Boys (H), 5.45pm
December 11: Basel (A), 8pm
January 22: Fenerbahce (A), 5.45pm
January 29: Salzburg (H), 8pm
Which game most excites you?
UEFA’s supercomputer threw up a couple of tasty, ostensibly tough ties. Going back to Rotterdam, the scene of Villa’s European Cup triumph in 1982 where they beat Bayern Munich 1-0, will be incredibly nostalgic and therefore the most exciting.
Villa skipper Dennis Mortimer lifts the European Cup in Rotterdam (Birmingham Post and Mail Archive/Getty Images)
Which game worries you?
Villa will face difficult, tactically varying opposition throughout. Bologna at home will be a sharply stylistic affair and Basel have often pulled off scalps on their home patch. But the thought of going into the intensity of Fenerbahce’s stadium, thudding with noise and then seeing the sight of former player Diego Carlos and, most keenly, Duran, will be quite an experience.
Duran is a showman and this will be his ultimate stage. Anything could happen and that unpredictability, coupled with an intense atmosphere, will be a great challenge.
What is Unai Emery’s biggest issue to confront in the tournament?
The absence of depth. Being edged out of a Champions League spot gave Villa an immediate deficit of £50million, so keeping players who could cover multiple positions was seen as a partial solution this summer.
Inescapably, though, Villa have a smaller squad and, unlike last season’s Champions League knockout stages, do not have the loan acquisitions of Axel Disasi, Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio (at the time of writing) to strengthen existing options. Going deep in the tournament while dealing with the rigours domestically will be taxing.
Who could be a breakthrough talent for Villa in the Europa League?
The Athletic has previously written on Villa’s arguably most prodigious young talent, George Hemmings, yet it may be a season too early for the midfielder to feature in Europe. So, slightly more senior, I’ll plump for Ian Maatsen.
Admittedly, a Champions League finalist with Borussia Dortmund in the 2023-24 campaign, Maatsen has not quite established himself at Villa. I do think how a Europa League competition typically unfolds — with Villa expected to have the lion’s share of possession in most matches — will be conducive to the 23-year-old playing higher and wider from left-back, more inclined to his attacking strengths.
Could a Europa run help Maatsen establish himself at Villa? (Harry Murphy/Getty Images)
Which team do Villa most want to avoid in the latter stages?
Well, Villa’s bogey team Crystal Palace are no longer in it, so selfishly that’s a positive. Emery will back his side to beat anyone in truth, but there is always a danger Villa can be drowned away from home. Teams such as Roma (who Villa did beat in pre-season), Lille and Porto are dangerous with home advantage. A tie against Nottingham Forest would be an arduous, attritional task, too.
What would be considered a successful finish?
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, Villa need a trophy to rubber-stamp Emery’s era. Winning the Europa League must be the target, with anything else a disappointment.
Prediction time — how far will Villa get?
Just with the lack of depth and seeing how badly Villa ran out of gas in their run to the semi-finals of the Conference League two seasons ago — playing Thursday-Sunday and back then with a bigger squad — a similar issue may transpire. I will go with Villa reaching the semi-finals.
(Top photo: Darrren Staples/Getty Images)