- Author, David Michel
- Role, Fan writer
It was something of a ‘quiet or shut up’ week for Aston Villa, in which they finally took a decisive step towards their best season since 1995-96, when they finished fourth and won a trophy .
After a crucial victory at Arsenal, a heartbreaking passage to the Europa Conference League semi-finals and a return to controlled three-point performances at Villa Park, their fate is in their hands.
Tottenham, their rival for the last place in the Champions League, has a lot to do.
Although Villa have a two-legged European semi-final to play in May, Spurs have two Premier League games in hand and have broadly the same number of games to play before the end of the league season.
Spurs won’t be too happy about still having to face all three title contenders in their remaining six games either.
While injuries and player fatigue were highlighted by some sections of Villa fans, boss Unai Emery avoided excuses, preferring to publicly downplay expectations, while within the team he did not give up what could be achieved this season.
There have been silver linings to Villa’s problems which have also helped.
Since arriving in January, the impressive Morgan Rogers has come a long way to fill a Jacob Ramsey-sized hole, while the recent suspensions of John McGinn and Douglas Luiz have arguably given two key members of the midfield a beneficial rest at a key moment of the season.
The Villa manager is one of the best in the game and is 100% aiming to play Champions League football next season and add the Europa Conference League to his haul of European trophies.
As things stand, things are looking good.