Unai Emery fears for Aston Villa's Champions League top-eight chances

Aston Villa manager Unai Emery has stated that the team may have missed their chance to advance to the Champions League's top eight after their away defeat to Monaco. In Tuesday night's match, a header from Wilfried Singo secured the only goal of the game, and an out-of-form Villa failed to capitalize on their opportunities.

Finishing in the top eight or higher in the league stage guarantees direct qualification to the knockout rounds, and a win for Villa against Monaco would have placed them almost certainly in the next phase. However, this loss means they will likely need to defeat Celtic at Villa Park next week to avoid participating in a two-legged knockout play-off.

"When we play these kinds of matches, it’s very important to get the three points because I think we lost the opportunity to be in the top eight," said Emery. "Today was crucial." Despite the setback, Aston Villa has been in good form recently, winning 7 of their last 12 matches in all competitions. Alongside their European campaign, Villa is also fighting for a top-four finish in the Premier League, with the performances of forwards Ollie Watkins and Jhon Durán key to their success both domestically and internationally.

Watkins has scored 10 goals in all competitions so far this season, while Durán has 12, but Emery has mostly opted to rotate them, failing to get them to effectively form a partnership. Watkins started against Monaco, and Durán joined the attack in the 57th minute, but neither managed to truly threaten the home side before the final whistle.

"In the last 20 minutes we put on two strikers, but the positioning of the two strikers was not as organized as I wanted," said Emery. "We have two good strikers. How to use the two strikers is my challenge. They are both very good players, but today it didn’t work. My decision to put on two strikers was a mistake. Before that, we were more or less controlling the match."