Aston Villa midfielder Youri Tielemans says club want to ‘make their mark’ in this season’s Champions League as 1982 winners gear up for first appearance in 41 years
- Aston Villa face Young Boys in the Champions League on Tuesday night
- The club lifted the trophy in 1982 but haven’t featured in over 40 years
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Youri Tielemans has revealed Aston Villa dream of emulating the European Cup winners of 1982 in their first crack at the competition for 41 years.
Villa will wear black armbands in memory of Gary Shaw, who died on Monday aged 63, when they take on Young Boys on their artificial surface in Bern on Tuesday.
Shaw was part of the team that beat Bayern Munich in Rotterdam 42 years ago after helping Villa win the title 12 months earlier.
In the re-formatted Champions League, all 32 teams will play eight matches apiece in a single league.
The top eight will qualify automatically for the last 16, and the teams ranked between 9th and 24th will face a two-leg play-off to join them.
Youri Tielemans speaks ahead of his side’s Champions League clash with Young Boys
Tielemans and his team-mates trained at the Wankdorf Stadium on Monday ahead of the game
Though Villa are not among the favourites, the European experience of manager Unai Emery has filled them with confidence.
Tielemans said: ‘We don’t only want to participate in this competition. We want to make our mark.
‘There were always ambitious plans before I signed a year ago, that’s why I bought into the project. Aston Villa have got here maybe even earlier than they expected.
The European experience of manager Unai Emery has filled Villa with confidence
‘Unai Emery mentioned the Champions League to me in talks before I signed.
‘To qualify was one of his goals when he joined the club, a real big goal for him, and now we have achieved it.’
