Five big moments (so far) from Aston Villa's memorable Champions League run

Aston Villa’s return to the top flight of European football has seen a return to glory fans could only dream of prior to Unai Emery’s revival of the side.

Reaching the quarter-final of the 2024/25 Champions League means the Villans equal their second-best run in the tournament, when they lost to Juventus in 1983.

Ahead of playing Paris Saint-Germain, Dan Hickey reflects on five of Villa’s best moments to get to this stage.

A strong start

Aston Villa celebrate a goal against Young Boys

Their debut in the Champions League was one to remember, as Villa emphatically swept aside BSC Youngs Boys.

Youri Tielemans, Jacob Ramsey and Amadou Onana made the scoresheet on the night, while Ollie Watkins and Jhon Duran found the net but had their efforts ruled out in a 3-0 victory that could have been so much worse for the Swiss hosts.

Jhon Duran’s historic strike

Jhon Duran celebrates his goal against Bayern Munich

Forty-two years after Peter Withe netted against Bayern Munich to win 1-0 and bring home the title, it was fate that Villa would win 1-0 against Bayern all over again.

With 11 minutes to go, incredible saves from Emi Martinez were keeping the visitors from extending their 42-game unbeaten group-stage streak.

Enter super-substitute Duran, who had already scored four off the bench by early October. Pau Torres fed him through shortly after coming on and without taking a touch, Duran lobbed Manuel Neuer from 25 yards out.

Late against Leipzig

Aston Villa's Ross Barkley scores their side's third goal of the game during the UEFA Champions League league stage match at RB Leipzig

Duran made sure to etch himself into Villa folklore with another stunning display off the bench. Both he and fellow substitute Ross Barkley scored to go third in the league phase, condemning opponents RB Leipzig to elimination.

Barkley’s late winner was his first in the competition, while Emery proved his managerial prowess yet again by shifting Matty Cash to right-wing-back with great effect and Martinez proved his importance as the defensive errors from Villa’s Premier League campaign crept in.

Morgan Rogers’ Celtic rout

Morgan Rogers holds the matchball after scoring a hat-trick — Morgan Rogers hit a treble against Celtic (Nick Potts/PA)

The atmosphere at Villa Park was electric for the Battle of Britain, and it was only improved as Rogers netted twice within five minutes.

Celtic fought back, shocking the crowd through Adam Idah’s quickfire brace before the break.

Watkins, shortly after it was revealed had been the subject of a rejected £60million bid from Arsenal, both scored and missed a penalty in the second half, before Rogers sealed his hat-trick in the last moments of the game to win 4-2.

Redemption for Mings

Club Brugge's Ferran Jutgla and Aston Villa's Tyrone Mings (right) in action on Tuesday night — Club Brugge's Ferran Jutgla and Aston Villa's Tyrone Mings (right) in action in the first leg of the last-16 tie

After a horror-show European debut for Tyrone Mings, where a maddening handball led to him giving away a match-winning penalty to Club Brugge, there was a shot at redemption as the two sides were drawn in the last-16.

And Mings took his chance, heading on a second-minute corner to Leon Bailey, who fired home to take an early lead.

Despite a Club Brugge equaliser 10 minutes later, Villa went on to win 3-1 thanks to a Brandon Mechele own goal and PSG loanee Marco Asensio sealing the win from the spot - with Mings outstanding at the back.

Their passage to the quarter-finals was sealed with a 3-0 win back at Villa Park in the second leg.