Some things simply meet expectations, others catch us cold, take us by pleasant surprise. Aston Villa have made a habit of doing the latter over the past couple of years. Take the supporters who ended up slurping a pre‑match pint and talking double pivots with the Prince of Wales in the Wetherspoon’s at Birmingham New Street in the hours before they travelled to the win at Everton last week, after the royal Villa fan attended an inaugural critical‑care conference in the city.
Nobody envisaged Unai Emery transforming Villa in double-quick time, to the point where a victory in Monaco on Tuesday will put them on the verge of qualifying for the Champions League last 16 in their first season back on this stage for 41 years. There were plenty of sceptics when the Villa manager plucked Morgan Rogers out of the Championship 12 months ago but he has proved a revelation, one of the Premier League’s best performers this season, repeatedly leaving opponents in a tailspin. And few predicted Youri Tielemans would return to the peak of his powers after signing on a free 18 months ago.
