'Getting to the highest level again was always going to be tough'

There may have been a sense of flatness about Aston Villa’s performance against Manchester United but it can’t have come as a surprise to manager Unai Emery.

Wednesday’s win over Bayern Munich will go down as one of the club’s greatest victories.

The physical and emotional energy expended to get it was huge.

So even though they were at home again, against a side who played in Portugal on Thursday and under pressure after a series of bad results, getting to the highest level again was always going to be tough.

Villa finished the game well and in the end came closest to winning it.

But the main point is Villa did not lose. That is a major positive at a historically big club trying to get used to playing in the biggest games once more.