Champions League: Unai Emery savours Aston Villa’s 6-0 rout of Fenerbahçe

Aston Villa thrashed Fenerbahçe 6-0 at home on Wednesday night, on matchday two of the Champions League league phase. Two European games, two wins: Villa sit third in the league phase, behind PSG and Barcelona. Unai Emery is savouring it, with one reservation.

Asked by TNT Sports, he kept the score in proportion: “Overall, it was a very good match. There are still things to improve. Maybe Fenerbahçe didn’t deserve to concede six goals. What we did today was fantastic. The Champions League is very hard.”

The Premier League start has been lean: five points from six games, 16th place. For Saturday, Emery ran through his options: Nicolas Jackson is “our striker” and has to “always be in the box when we attack”; Brian Madjo is “now ready to play”; Johan Manzambi is “very professional” and “an excellent teammate”.

What the 6-0 changes for Saturday

Villa travel to St James’ Park on Saturday evening (5.30pm UK), to face a Newcastle side sitting 11th on eight points and beaten 4-1 at Coventry on Monday. Villa are unbeaten in five, four wins and a draw, and Newcastle won the last meeting between the two, 3-1 in the FA Cup in February.

In Thursday’s prices, the rout has already moved the line: Villa +0.25 on the Asian handicap has shortened from an opening 2.025 to 1.875 with Bet365. The straight away win still sits at 3.185 with 1xbet, unchanged since before Wednesday. Team news, form and our prediction for the match are in our match preview.