Aston Villa manager Unai Emery has said his club’s first home match in the top flight of European football in 41 years will be a “special” occasion when Bayern Munich visit Villa Park on Wednesday.

Villa were one of the Premier League’s surprise packages under Emery in the 2023/24 season, finishing fourth to qualify for the Champions League for the first time since their quarter-final defeat to Juventus in the 1984 competition, then known as the European Cup.

“We are very happy to face Bayern here at home and hopefully we can enjoy tomorrow and compete and show our best,” Emery said at his press conference on Tuesday.

“It’s a special, special competition for everyone.”

Villa played Bayern in the 1982 European Cup Final and emerged 1–0 winners to claim club football’s top prize on the continent for the first and only time in their history.

“As it is a new competition we are motivated and so excited to play with our supporters at Villa Park tomorrow. We are also thinking about the final that Villa played against them 42 years ago,” Emery said.

“Now at this point in our process we have to try to play one more match. Of course it is against one of the best teams in the world and the favorite with three or four others to win this competition.”

Emery has gained significant experience in European football through spells at Sevilla, Paris Saint-Germain, Arsenal and Villarreal – 188 appearances at various levels of the UEFA competition.

In stark contrast, Bayern bench Vincent Kompany will take charge of his second continental game after moving to Munich from Burnley in a shock move last summer.

“His career is very recognized as a player,” Emery said of his counterpart. “He started two or three years ago and worked at Manchester City with Pep (Guardiola) and he was successful so quickly.

“With his experiences and working with Guardiola, everything I see as a coach says he will have a very good future.”

Villa comfortably defeated Young Boys in their first Champions League match of the season, while Bayern defeated Dinamo Zagreb 9-2.