Aston Villa sunk to another defeat after their Champions League exertions in midweek, this time at Nottingham Forest, now making it five straight Premier League matches they’ve failed to win after European games
Unai Emery called the Champions League ‘another competition.’
But there is a drag on Villa’s results that the Spaniard needs to address if his club is not to suffer the same fate as Newcastle United. The Magpies’ excitement at qualifying for the competition 12 months ago had a knock-on effect on their Premier League form. And Villa appear to be heading in the same direction.
Emery said: “The Champions League is different, it’s completely different – another competition. Last year, we played in the Europa Conference League and we got fourth. It’s not an excuse to fail.”
But the sequence of results following their exertions in European football’s premier club competition is starting to take effect. Villa defeated Wolves following their debut against Young Boys. But since then they have played five times in the Premier League after their Champions League games – winning none, drawing twice and losing the other three.
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Villa put together back-to-back victories over Brentford and Southampton following an eight-game winless streak. And while that has given their campaign fresh momentum, it was lost in the final ten minutes, Trentside.
Unusually, Emery also drew attention to a penalty that wasn’t awarded in Villa’s favour for a first-half foul on Morgan Rogers. He normally steers clear of commenting on any refereeing decisions but chose to break the habit at the City Ground.
It was an off-day for him – and for his team – who did look slightly off the pace and crumbled under Forest’s pressure late on, suggesting claims of tiredness did have merit. Emery said: “We were thinking about the win but a point wasn’t bad because we’re fighting with them and it’s difficult here.
“I was calm after they scored, maybe thinking we’d go home with a point. By the end, we’ve lost three.”
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