- Aston Villa will face Young Boys in the Champions League on Tuesday night
- The club lifted the trophy in 1982, but has not participated in more than 40 years.
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Youri Tielemans has revealed Aston Villa’s dream of emulating the 1982 European Cup winners in their first appearance in the competition for 41 years.
Villa will wear a black armband in memory of Gary Shaw, who died on Monday aged 63, when they face Young Boys on their artificial turf 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 reformed Champions League, all 32 teams will play eight matches each in a single league.
The top eight will automatically qualify for the round of 16, and teams ranked 9th to 24th will face off in a two-legged playoff to join them.
Youri Tielemans speaks ahead of his side’s Champions League clash against Young Boys
Tielemans and his teammates trained at the Wankdorf Stadium on Monday ahead of the match.
Although Villa are not among the favourites, coach Unai Emery’s European experience has filled them with confidence.
Tielemans said: “We don’t just want to take part in this competition. We want to leave our mark.
“Before I signed a year ago, there were always ambitious plans, that’s why I got involved in the project. Aston Villa have gotten this far perhaps even sooner than expected.
‘Unai Emery spoke to me about the Champions League in the talks prior to my signing. Qualifying was one of his objectives when he arrived at the club, a very important objective for him, and now we have achieved it.’