The Midlands club will make their first appearance in Europe's top competition since 1983 and the coach thinks his team can make their mark in the revamped group stage.

Emery told TNT Sports: "I had dreams when I arrived here to play in the Champions League and be competitive in this competition.

"Of course, we arrived quickly and better, of course. Even playing in the Conference League last year was quicker than maybe we expected.

"But we are going to set our new mentality, our new objective. Because we are now not comfortable playing in the Premier League and being in the middle. We want to be competitive, get in Europe, and be consistent.

"But of course, being consistent and getting into Europe is very difficult in England because it is the hardest league in the world."

Villa could face a tricky artificial playing surface when they travel to Switzerland to take on Young Boys on Tuesday (17.09.24) but Emery is not looking to make any excuses.

The manager said: "We have to accept and we have to adapt to the pitches we are playing. Of course, usually we are playing on normal pitches, here it is synthetic.

"But we are going to try to adapt quickly and know what the difference is with the pitch."

Emery has a superb record in continental football and is hoping that Villa can channel their experiences from last season's run to the Conference League semi-finals on the biggest stage of all.

He said: "We have to try and use our experiences from last year, how difficult it was last year to get to the semi-final in the Conference League. And how difficult it is going to be here this year in the Champions League.

"But we can compete here and enjoy it and feel strong playing in Europe with sharing the difficulty we have playing in the Premier League."