John McGinn said there is no limit to Aston Villa’s ambition in the Champions League after beating Bologna 2-0 to go top of the table in a dream return to the competition. Villa last played in the top tier of European football back in 1983 but Unai Emery’s transformation of a sleeping giant knows no bounds as they became the only side to register three wins from three Champions League games so far. McGinn’s free-kick flew beyond everyone into the far corner to open the scoring in the second half before Jhon Duran kept up his prolific strike rate on a rare start for the Colombian.

“We don’t want to stop here. It puts us in a great position,” said McGinn, who joined the club when they were still in the second tier of English football in 2018.

“What we are building here is amazing.

“This is home for me. It is my seventh season here, we’ve had ups and downs. It has been a rollercoaster. Hopefully we can keep climbing.”

Bologna, by contrast, have just one point from their opening three games and one win in 11 games in all competitions this season.

The Rossoblu were one of the stories of European football last season as they finished fifth in Serie A to qualify for the Champions League for the first time in 60 years.

However, they have struggled since losing star players Riccardo Calafiori and Joshua Zirkzee to Premier League giants Arsenal and Manchester United, while coach Thiago Motta left to take charge of Juventus.

Emery said on the eve of the game he wants to “break barriers” at a club that has not won a trophy since 1996.

And the Spaniard showed the impressive strength in depth at his disposal with a comfortable win despite making four changes.

“We are playing focussed, responsible and the team is progressing and maturing in everything,” said Emery.

Duran was finally handed his first start in either the Premier League or Champions League after scoring five times as a substitute this season.

Set-piece specialists

McGinn and England international Ezri Konsa returned from injury, while 35 million pounds ($46 million) signing Ian Maatsen came in at left-back.

French international Boubacar Kamara made his return from a serious knee injury as a late substitute, while club captain Tyrone Mings was on the bench for the first time since suffering an ACL injury in August 2023.

Villa’s strength from set-pieces has been one of the keys to Emery’s transformation of the club from battling relegation to beating off Europe’s finest over the past two years.

McGinn’s enticing delivery did not even need a touch from the cluster of bodies in the box as the Scotland midfielder’s strike found the bottom corner to break the deadlock 10 minutes into the second half.

Nine minutes later, Duran made sure of the points with a clinical near-post finish from Morgan Rogers’ cross.

The combustible striker then showed his displeasure at being replaced by Ollie Watkins moments later as he punched the bench in frustration.

But that did not take the shine off another memorable night for Villa in their meteoric rise since Emery arrived in Birmingham.

Nine points may already be enough to secure a playoff place with five games to spare.

Only the bottom 12 in the 36-team table will be eliminated, but Villa’s sights are now on trying to secure a top-eight finish and automatic qualification for the last 16.

Bayern Munich had not lost a Champions League group game since 2017 until a 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa on Wednesday that hinted at a new era of European glory for the English side. Villa relived the club’s greatest ever night, when they beat Bayern to lift the European Cup in 1982, in their first home match at the continent’s elite level for 41 years. The Birmingham club’s fortunes have been transformed in less than two years since Unai Emery took charge, catapulting Villa from battling relegation at the bottom of the Premier League to finishing in the top four last season.

Now two games into their first ever experience since the European Cup was rebranded to the Champions League, they are one of just seven sides with maximum points.

Bayern’s previous group stage defeat, 41 games ago, also came at the hands of Emery when in charge of Paris Saint-Germain.

The Spaniard’s time in France and as Arsene Wenger’s successor at Arsenal did not end well.

However, he has a track record of lifting up European football’s middleweights to trade blows with the continent’s giants.

Emery won three consecutive Europa Leagues at Sevilla and lifted the competition for a fourth time with Villarreal in 2021 to deliver the club’s first ever major trophy.

The next season Villarreal reached the Champions League semi-finals, knocking out Juventus and Bayern along the way.

Villa are now reaping the rewards of Emery’s shrewd tactical mind and ability to polish rough diamonds.

– ‘Moving forward’ –

Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham were among the sides with bigger budgets that were beaten into fourth place by Villa in the Premier League last season.

In doing so, Emery’s men beat both title contenders Manchester City and Arsenal 1-0 at Villa Park in December and repeated that trick against a Bayern team that arrived in England in free-scoring form.

Bayern were stifled by Villa’s organisation and hit with the sucker punch by super sub Jhon Duran.

The Colombian lobbed Manuel Neuer 11 minutes from time to score his fifth goal this season after coming off the bench.

Emi Martinez was then needed to make two huge saves in the dying moments as a Bayern side that had averaged over four goals a game since Vincent Kompany took charge were shut out.

“It’s a statement but there are still a lot of games to play. We want to qualify in the top eight,” said Argentina’s World Cup winner Martinez.

“This is the loudest Villa Park that I’ve heard since I joined the club, that’s for sure.

“It’s a club that is moving forward. I love playing here, I love the fans. This is a win for them.”

Emery’s gameplan even won the seal of royal approval. He was afforded an audience with Villa fan Prince William, who was among the more than 40,000 crowd celebrating a famous night.

“I told him the best moment we can pass is days like today,” said Emery of his meeting with Britain’s future king.

“I don’t know where (Villa can go) but we are going to try to enjoy the way. Today we (will) remember how we played, who we played and the Champions League final from 42 years ago. It was a special day.”

Forward Morgan Rogers was playing in the Championship earlier this year for Middlesbrough, but is another who Emery has moulded into a player now taking the Champions League in his stride.

“It’s a pinch me moment,” Rogers said of his meteoric rise. “We’re not here to just compete, we’re here to try and win games.”

In 1982 Bayern legends Paul Breitner and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge were among those stunned by Villa’s upstarts in Rotterdam.

Over four decades on, the German giants were left to lick their wounds again on a night that will be long remembered in the Midlands.