Looking back on Aston Villa's last European campaign as they make their long-awaited return

It has been no less than 14 years since Aston Villa last competed on the European stage outside of qualifiers.

Their last outing in an actual competition was way back in February 2009 as a rotated Villa team crashed out of the UEFA Cup in the freezing Russian winter, falling to a 3-1 aggregate defeat to CSKA Moscow.

They will make their return to competitive European football later this week, however, with Unai Emery’s side returning to Eastern Europe to take on Polish giants Lech Poznan.

It has been a long and agonising road back to competitive European football for Villa fans, but they will surely be hoping for a better campaign than they saw in the 2008/09 season.

They kicked off their qualifying campaign in late July, jetting off to Iceland to take on minnows FH in front of just 2,200 people. Goals from Gareth Barry, Ashley Young, Gabriel Agbonlahor and newly-named captain Martin Laursen did the business for Villa before the return leg at Villa Park.

It was fortunate that Villa picked up the away win as manager Martin O’Neill fielded a heavily rotated team for the home leg. Only a screamer from Craig Gardner, who would go on to be a hero for Birmingham City, prevented an embarrassing defeat for the Champions League hopefuls.

This would set the theme for much of the campaign as Villa would have to rely on strong away showings to make up for their spotty home form.

The odd structure of the UEFA Cup saw the First Round take place before the Group Stage and Villa were drawn with Bulgarian outfit Litex Lovech. Yet again, they secured a big away win thanks to goals from Barry, Nigel Reo-Coker and Bulgarian native Stiliyan Petrov, but they faltered to a draw at home.

However, they would finally get their home win as they kicked off the Group Stage with a win over Dutch giants Ajax. Despite the visitors having a strike partnership of future Galactico Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and a young Luis Suarez, Villa ran out 2-1 winners thanks to goals from Laursen and another strike from Barry.

They followed this up with a win away to Czech giants Slavia Prague, but this was the last time they would see a win in Europe for a long, long time.

Villa played their final home group game in December 2008, hosting Slovakian outfit MSK Zilina. With qualification all but secured and Villa still chasing Champions League qualification, O’Neill again chose to rotate the team.

However, it proved to be another case of O’Neill underestimating the opposition, with Zilina racing into an early two-goal lead at Villa Park. The hosts did grab one back through Nathan Delfounseo, but they could not find a leveller.

Villa was able to qualify for the Round of 32 anyway thanks to results elsewhere, but the result was nevertheless alarming. They could still have secured first place in the group with an away win over Hamburg, but they slipped to another defeat.

When the time came to face off against CSKA Moscow in February, Villa was coming off a stunning run of form in the league. Despite their spotty form in Europe, they had only tasted defeat once in the league since early November and were unbeaten in 14 matches prior to a defeat to Everton three days earlier.

O’Neill decided not to rotate for the home leg, opting to field as close to a full-strength team as he could. At this point, CSKA were a team with a growing reputation. Star striker Vagner Love was constantly being linked with moves to Europe’s elite, Yuri Zhirkov was five months away from a move to Chelsea and Igor Akinfeev had been established as CSKA’s and Russia’s goalkeeper since he was a teenager. On a sidenote, he is remarkably still playing for CSKA now.

Villa, who faced Champions League rivals Chelsea at home between the two legs, were clearly hoping to deal a knockout blow before heading to Russia a week later. However, it would not come to pass as they could only manage a draw.

By the time Villa headed to Moscow after losing to Chelsea that weekend, the alarm bells were starting to ring. They had lost consecutive games in the league and the squad was stretched too thin. Villa had already lost captain Laursen to a career-ending injury earlier that season and they were keen to avoid any more casualties.

With this in mind, it was understandable why O’Neill chose to sacrifice the UEFA Cup. They were still fourth in the league, six points clear of Arsenal, and Champions League qualification was in their grasp. Hell, they were only three points behind second-place Chelsea courtesy of their defeat a few days earlier.

Therefore, O’Neill decided to field a team of kids and most of the senior player did not even travel. The youthful side put up a good fight, but they fell to a defeat in the Russian capital.

If the gamble had paid off and Villa had secured that elusive Champions League qualification, this game would not sting so much today. Sadly, things did not pan out how Villa fans were hoping.

They followed up the defeat in Moscow by blowing a two-goal lead at home to Stoke before losing their next four games in a row. They went the entirety of March and April without a win, losing four and drawing four during that time. Villa did secure top six and Europa League qualification for the next season, but it could have been so much more.

Villa’s issues with squad depth and rotation killed them in 2009 as while their first team was great, they had nothing to replace them with.

For instance, Gareth Barry and James Milner were outstanding midfielders, but rotation options Isaiah Osborne and Moustapha Salifou were awful. Gabriel Agbonlahor and John Carew were a lethal partnership, but Nathan Delfounseo was a youngster and Marlon Harewood was substandard.

Unai Emery operates on a similarly small squad as O’Neill, but unlike his predecessor, it is not a thin squad. Villa has a surprising amount of depth for such a small squad, having at least two quality players to cover almost every position and incredibly gifted youth players to back them up.

Their business over the last two windows, both in terms of incomings and departures, was crucial in building this depth. Villa had a stale squad in January, so Emery moved quick to ship the likes of Frederic Guilbert and Morgan Sanson out and replace them with genuine star quality. They now have incredible depth and versatility in their squad, and they look well-set to go deep into the Conference League.

It is crucial that Villa have a successful campaign to shake off the ghosts of more than a decade ago and truly move on into a brighter future.