Right troops, this is where we bring our coverage of tonight's match to a close.

An accomplished performance from a dominant Aston Villa blew away Hibernian in the Scottish capital. What lies ahead next week?

Thanks for sticking with us and keeping me company. I'm away for a pizza crunch.

Goodnight.

“First of all, I was proud of the football club for getting to this point. I was disappointed with the scoreline," said Hibs boss Lee Johnson. "I felt the shape was okay in the first half, but in terms of moments in our control we weren’t good enough.

“The gulf in quality showed after that period in the first 20 minutes. Too many times we gave the ball away, too many times we were offside. That was the lesson for us and we hope we can learn from this.

“There’s huge differences between the budgets and we’re doing well to compete at this level and today is a big lesson for us.”

Word reaches us that Hibs boss Lee Johnson has arrived in the Easter Road press room.

We'll leave the final word to him. Stick with us.

Villa fans are loving life:

MrBiscuits: A statement of intent by Emery this evening, sending out his strongest XI. Hibernian were always up against it, and Villa duly delivered. We've waited over a decade for a European adventure, let the good times roll.

Hans: Wow. Just wow. I expected a win, but definitely not this big. Great game from the lads and hopefully all goes well in the second leg.

Shaun: What a confidence booster for Villa, no doubt there will be tougher opposition to come but we can finally delete Rapid Vienna from our "Most recent European experience" folders.

Colin: A stroll in the park. Massive gap between Scottish and English top flights. Game over.

Hibs fans did not enjoy their evening:

Jock: The gulf between the two teams was huge, that was plain to see. A huge step up in opposition tonight for Hibs, we just couldn’t handle Villa's movement, power and pace. They’re a not a well established EPL side for nothing and favourites for the tournament. We need to put this behind us and get some points on the board in the league.

Martin: Fair enough, always going to be difficult but three goals from unchallenged headers in the six yard box! It's been a recurring failure for a while now. Needs sorting. New approach needed because it's costing us games.

Mike: As feared, the kind of basic defensive mistakes that we've been making all season ruthlessly punished by a very professional Villa side. We started okay, but gave Digne the full run of the wing which he fully exploited. Sets up a classy finish from Watkins for the first but the next two were far too easy and by half-time the tie is done and dusted.

The focus for both teams turns back to domestic business. If Hibs' need for a result at the weekend was big before tonight, that's only been ramped up even further now.

Livingston come to Easter Road with Hibs stuck on zero points before their focus swings back to Villa.

A Sunday trip to Burnley lies ahead for Unai Emery's team, who have whacked in nine goals in their last two games.

Still no sign of Hibs manager Lee Johnson in the post-match press conference.

We'll try and bring you that before we toddle off in the next wee while.

Who doesn't know what time it is?

Aston Villa captain John McGinn says it was an odd experience to return to Easter Road as an opponent, and revealed he told his team-mates not to underestimate Hibs.

He tells BBC Scotland: "It's the most nervous I've been for a game in a long time. I had butterflies today.

"It was really strange being in the away changing room. I had a special three years here, it's great to be back but it's a good result for us.

"I was at a bit of a crossroads in my career and this club gave me a platform to show what I can do. The supporters took to me very early.

"I told the boys 'don't disrespect Hibs'. I told them they'd be surprised and they were surprised first 15 minutes.

"It was an important game for Hibs, so I'd rather be treated like an opponent and then I got a nice reception at the end."

Image source, SNS

Aston Villa manager Unai Emery on BBC Scotland: "We know today that we really played a high level, and didn't let them play how they usually play. The end result - five goals - is maybe not deserved, but we deserved to win, and our respect of them is playing how we played.

"We know they are very good in the transition. We know they have good long balls and crosses. We tried to keep control with the ball, and we did it.

"I am happy, but everything we did was with respect. In this competition, first we have to be in the groups, and second, trying to do something here."

Image source, SNS

Hibernian goalkeeper David Marshall has been speaking to BBC Scotland.

"We never game the fans anything to get behind us with. They were very clinical," he said.

"In terms of performance we know we were miles off, especially in the first half. We know they are a better team than us, but we can be better."

While we wait on the reaction flooding in, let's take a look at the other game in the Europa Conference League play-offs tonight.

Spartak Trnava claimed a 1-1 draw with Dnipro, while there's three Champions League play-off ties about to kick off.

John Collins
Former Hibs manager on BBC Sportsound

I think it's a big game of quality of football Aston Villa showed tonight. The passing, movement, composure, speed of thought over the ground. I think the confidence grew for Aston Villa as the goals came in.

Michael Stewart
Former Hibernian midfielder on BBC Sportscene

It's a difficult night for the Hibs supporters. As much as the expectation was that it was a mammoth task for Hibs, but as supporters, you always want to have that little bit of belief.

It's the same for the players. They would have been hoping that something incredible could have happened tonight, and it very quickly became apparent that it wasn't.

John McGinn has joined the Sportscene team on the telly and you can watch him at the top of the page. If not, we'll bring you the best of him here shortly.

Alan Hutton
Former Aston Villa defender on BBC Sportscene

I think it was just a step too far for Hibs tonight.

Aston Villa have invested heavily in players and they will believe they can go far in this competition. Overall, it was always going to be difficult.

Image source, SNS

Jings.

Hibs fans, let us know your thoughts on the game here, although I'd not blame you if you didn't.

Villans, you must be delighted? Tell us about it here.

Image source, SNS

A horrible night for Hibernian in Edinburgh this evening.

Fair play, Aston Villa. The English side were excellent throughout.

Three minutes added on.

Right, keep it tight, lads.

Another Hibs offside...