Aston Villa's reunion with Bologna in the Europa League serves as a painful reminder of their Champions League highs just 11 months ago. Victory then propelled them to the top of the table, but defeat at Old Trafford in May cost them a return to Europe's elite. Now, the club is in crisis, with president of football operations Monchi departing and manager Unai Emery's future in doubt.
Monchi's exit compounds a disappointing start to the season and a frustrating summer transfer window. After years of heavy spending, Villa were the Premier League's second-lowest spenders this summer. The club has been hamstrung by financial constraints, including a £9.5m fine from Uefa for breaching squad cost control rules.
Emery has criticised his team for being lazy, and the squad's age is a concern: nine of the starting XI against Sunderland were at the club under Steven Gerrard, and Villa have fielded the second-oldest average starting XI in the league. The club blames the Premier League's Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR), but the reality is that Uefa, not the Premier League, imposed the fine.
Villa's squad is notably weaker than the one that faced Bologna last season. Key loanees Marco Asensio and Marcus Rashford have departed, while Donyell Malen remains despite being omitted from the Champions League squad. Ollie Watkins is out of form and starved of service, with Villa the last club in England's top seven tiers to score a league goal this season.
The club's over-reliance on past spending has forced sacrifices, such as selling local hero Jacob Ramsey to comply with PSR. Other signings like Lewis Dobbin and Samuel Iling-Junior are out on loan with no benefit to the team. The sense of decline is palpable, with Villa struggling to replicate their former ambition.
