Youri Tielemans keeps Aston Villa’s European dream on track

Aston Villa make the trip to Switzerland to take on Basel at St. Jakob-Park on matchday six of the Europa League. These clubs met in the 2001 Uefa Intertoto Cup, with Aston Villa winning 5-2 on aggregate to qualify for the Uefa Cup.

Aston Villa have not suffered defeat since losing 2-0 at Liverpool at the start of November, winning their last seven games on the trot in all competitions and 13 of their last 15. That includes beating Premier League leaders Arsenal 2-1 at Villa Park last weekend, meaning they sit third just three points off Arsenal. Unai Emery’s side have won four of their first five Europa League matches this season, with their only defeat coming away at Go Ahead Eagles. They are third on 12 points in the big table, level on points with Lyon and Midtjylland above them.

“We are in December and of course there are still a lot of matches to play in different competitions,” Emery said. “We have a lot of things to improve, but [from] how we were two months ago [to] how we are now of course is different. We are building some emotional structure so in everything we are doing and sometimes even [when we are] not winning, we can feel the same. Then on the field, how we are being responsible. The players thought of responsibility after we lost some matches [and] we were not performing well, in August and September. They are being mature [and] responsible. We need to set our standards, our level, as high as possible in everything. Even when they are resting at home, they must think they will play in a few days and must be ready to play.”

Basel currently sit third in the Swiss top flight, seven points off leaders Thun. They were last in action on Sunday, winning 2-1 at Winterthur. They have just two wins from their first five Europa League games, losing their three other games, including last time out on matchday five at Genk, but they have won each of their last seven home Europa League games. Their six points from their first five matches leaves them in 24^th in the big league table with three games remaining, currently clutching onto the last play-off spot. They have won five of their last 10 major European games against English opponents; their most recent meeting with an English club came in March 2018, when they beat Manchester City 2-1 in the Champions League.

“We understand the challenge; it will be a brutal one,” Basel head coach Ludovic Magnin said. “We know we are facing a top European team that are on a roll. [Aston Villa’s style of play] shows what can happen when a coach can work at a club for several years. Everything will have to come together again for us to win. We know we have to be prepared to struggle and that we will not dominate the game. That is a different mental aspect. It causes less panic than when you are expected to win, regardless of your performance.”

Team news to follow shortly.