Aston Villa will be playing in the Champions League next season.
Manager Unai Emery has made history by steering the club to their first season in Europe’s elite club competition since the 1982/83 campaign in what was then the European Cup.
Villa failed to secure fourth spot on Monday night despite a remarkable comeback to draw 3-3 at home against Liverpool, but their Champions League place was confirmed 24 hours later as Tottenham Hotspur lost 2-0 to Manchester City.
Luckily, Villa were having their end of season awards as the Spurs defeat was taking place, meaning all the players and staff were in one place to celebrate their monumental achievement.
Emi Martinez kicks off Champions League celebrations
It will come as no surprise that enigmatic goalkeeper Emi Martinez was the man who started the celebrations.
The World Cup winning goalkeeper is known for his antics on the pitch, where he demonstrates his huge personality on a weekly basis.
The stopper made something of a howler in the second minute against Liverpool, turning a Harvey Elliott cross into his own goal, but such is Martinez’ confidence that he will have forgotten about that already.
Aston Villa journalist Ashley Preece was at Villa’s end of season awards and was on hand to capture the celebrations, posting a video on ‘X’ alongside the caption: “It all started by Martinez soaking Unai Emery. Welcome to the Champions League. Unreal scenes, here!”
Aston Villa grateful Champions League race won’t go down to final day
Had Tottenham beat Manchester City then the champagne would have had to remain on ice until the final day of the Premier League season on Sunday.
With Villa travelling to a Crystal Palace side who have won five and drawn one of their last six games and Spurs facing an already relegated Sheffield United this would have been a nerve-shredding experience.
Now, though, Emery’s side can relax and enjoy the final day of what has been an exhausting season given their run to the Europa Conference League semi-final alongside their league campaign.
Emery will be in no mood to simply make up the numbers in the Champions League, though, and will no doubt already be thinking about how he can improve his side given the meticulous nature of the manager.
For the club’s fans, they can just worry about celebrating an incredible season safe in the knowledge that Emery will have everything in hand.
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