(Football news) At Villa Park, two previous European Cup winners will square off after a tight goalless draw in their first leg of a last-16 match. Aston Villa made their debut into the spring round of a UEFA competition for the first time since 2009 on Thursday, having emerged victorious from Group E and avoiding a potentially dangerous playoff.
Ajax defender Tristan Gooijer and Aston Villa striker Ezri Konsa were sent off for second bookings at the end of a hard-fought battle that sets up this week’s return in Birmingham. Aston Villa failed to find the net for just the third time in 25 European outings.
If boss Unai Emery was hoping to receive a morale boost ahead of the Dutch giants’ arrival, he was sorely disappointed at the weekend, when his team went into a crucial clash with Tottenham Hotspur aiming to move eight points clear in the race for Champions League qualification.
Instead, Villa succumbed to a bitter 4-0 defeat on home turf, conceding all four goals after the break as captain John McGinn saw red in more than one sense. They still sit fourth in the Premier League table, but such a loss will surely have stung.
Clean sheets are at a premium for Emery’s men at the moment, but until their recent downturn, Villa Park had been a real fortress; and as Ajax failed to win any away games en route to elimination at the Europa League’s group stage, the hosts may still expect to progress.
A renowned specialist in continental competition, Villa’s Basque boss has yet to taste success in the Conference League, but a place in May’s final will move one step closer if he can engineer a win over one of Europe’s traditional powers
Though Ajax has won four titles on the continent, their current situation is very different from their long-gone heyday. Aston Villa won the European Cup in 1982.
The Amsterdam team not only has a chance to make up ground lost during a disastrous season opener by finishing in fifth place in the Eredivisie, but they also had to rely on good fortune to win a playoff match against Bodo/Glimt and secure their place in the round of sixteen of UEFA’s third-tier competition.
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